Italy's Culture Ministry Under Sangiuliano: A Year of Confusion and Regression

After over a year since Gennaro Sangiuliano became Minister of Culture, the Italian government's cultural strategy remains unclear. While some decisions have been reasonable, others represent a break from the past, but a coherent vision is lacking. The only recurring theme is the minister's focus on his hometown, Naples, effectively acting as its culture assessor. The first 12 months have been spent dismantling previous achievements rather than planning for 2030. Undersecretary Vittorio Sgarbi's activism has been counterproductive. Key reversals include: no more foreign directors for public museums; cancellation of the National Museum of Digital in Milan's Porta Venezia in favor of a Museum of Decorative Arts; football stadiums cannot be demolished and rebuilt, risking heritage protection; contemporary art is banned from archaeological sites; the winning project for the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale was questioned post-award; and the winning design for a new Uffizi entrance was scrapped after decades, replaced by a small garden. Andrea Maffei, partner of Arata Isozaki, declared 'Florence is defeated.' The article criticizes the lack of critical discourse, noting that the government threatens lawsuits against critics, as happened with Artribune and a Radio Rai program. The author, Massimiliano Tonelli, finds the situation alarming and the silence even more so.