Italy's 2018 Year of Food launches with Mibact social campaign blending art and gastronomy

The Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage (Mibact) has launched a social media campaign for 2018, declared the 'Anno nazionale del cibo italiano' (National Year of Italian Food) by Minister Dario Franceschini and Minister of Agricultural Policies Maurizio Martina. The campaign on Instagram (@museitaliani) shares digital posters of gastronomic-themed artworks from Italian museums, including the Stele of Karo at the Museo Egizio in Turin, Caravaggio's 'Fanciullo con canestro di frutta', Leonardo's 'Last Supper', and works by Giorgio De Chirico and Darren Bader. The initiative promotes Italy's 420+ museums and archaeological sites, inviting visitors to photograph and share food-related art with the hashtag #annodelciboitaliano. The year-long program, announced in June 2017, aims to valorize the intersection of food, art, and landscape—key cultural attractors—and supports UNESCO recognitions like the Mediterranean diet, Pantelleria's vine, Langhe-Roero-Monferrato landscapes, Parma as creative city of gastronomy, and the art of pizza making. It also backs candidacies for Prosecco and Amatriciana. Tourism promotion will be handled by ENIT and Italian embassies. The year is dedicated to the late chef Gualtiero Marchesi, who embodied these values internationally. Martina highlighted the record agricultural export of €40 billion in 2017 and the launch of 'food districts' projects.