Italy has
announced the appointment of seven foreigners to head national museums as part
of a move to revive cultural attractions. New hires are to be tasked with
instituting reforms sought by the Culture Ministry.
Deutsche Welle, 19 Aug 2015
Italian
museums that house masterpieces such as Michelangelo's "David" and
Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" will soon be run by foreign directors
for the first time, Italy's Culture Ministry announced Tuesday.
An
international search has ended with the selection of 20 new managers - half men,
half women - to lead some of the top museum collections in the world. Seven of
the candidates are non-Italian with a mix of Germans, Austrians, a Briton and a
Frenchman selected.
"It is
a historic step for Italy and its museums, which makes up for years of delays,
which completes the reform of the ministry and lays the foundation for the
modernization of our museums," said Culture Minister Dario Franceschini.
The
appointments are part of a ministry-wide reorganization aimed at boosting
Italy's capacity to preserve and promote the state's artistic and architectural
collections.
Former
leadership panned
Italy's
museum officials have admitted to a past plagued by mismanagement and neglect.
"The
museum system was sclerotic. A weak system: inadequate resources and paralyzing
rules," Paolo Baratta, tasked by the ministry to guide the selection
process, told the "La Repubblica" newspaper ahead of the
announcement.
Among the
new managers is German art historian Eike Schmidt, 47, who will take over at
the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Another German, 48-year-old Cecilie Hollberg,
will head the city's Accademia Gallery.
British-Canadian
architect, designer and museum manager James Bradburne, 59, will run the
Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan.
Austrian
Peter Aufreiter, 40, will take over the National Gallery of the Marches in
Urbino. Fellow countryman Peter Assman, 61, will run the Ducal Palace in
Mantua.
France's
Sylvain Bellenger, 60, an art historian, is to take the helm of the vast
Capodimonte Museum in Naples. German Gabriel Zuchtreigel, a 34-year-old
archeologist, will oversee the Paestum archaeological site near the city.
Sour grapes
over picks
The
appointment of foreign directors to oversee some of the country's finest
treasures has drawn domestic criticism.
Vittorio Sgarbi,
an art critic and Italy's former junior culture minister, said the Culture
Ministry had embarrassed "his army of excellent Italians."
"Why
did there absolutely have to be seven foreigners? And why precisely 10 men and
10 women?" Sgarbi said. "It was a sort of political correctness ...
for show."
jar/cmk (Reuters, dpa, AFP)
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