Italian Museums (ctd.)

May 25 2017

Extraordinary news from Italy, where a court has effectively dismissed six museum directors. Their crime? They're not Italian.

Regular readers may have been following AHN's coverage of the Italian government's reform of the cultural sector, and in particular the appointment of a number of foreign museum directors in an attempt by the government to shake things up in the notoriously defunct museum system. It seemed to be going well, with new directors in institutions like the Uffizi.

But a court in Lazio has ruled that the appointments of foreign directors in six museums is illegal, dure to irregularities in the appointments procedure. The Culture ministry has said it will appeal the court's ruling, but the backlash from legions of government appointed museum workers who were used to their quiet and untaxing lives is obviously greater than expected. The museums affected so far are:

The Paolo Giulierini, National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Carmelo Malacrino, National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, Eva Degli Innocenti, Director of the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto, Martina Bagnoli, Director of the Modena Estates Gallery, Peter Assmann, Director of the Ducal Palace Mantua and Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of Paestum Archaeological Park.

It's unclear if the ruling might be extended to the more major institutions who now have foreign directors, like the Brera and the Uffizi. More here. 

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