Italy's neglect of living artists: a call to reinvest in contemporary cultural heritage

In a pointed opinion piece on Artribune, critic Santa Nastro argues that Italy's cultural institutions have systematically neglected living artists while fetishizing ancient heritage. She endorses Sergio Risaliti's earlier call for institutions to act swiftly to support artists, the country's most fragile cultural asset. Nastro critiques the national habit of invoking past 'beauty' (Renaissance art) to construct identity, while ignoring the struggles of contemporary creators. Over the past twenty years, young Italian artists were hyped early with prizes and exhibitions, then abandoned for newer trends. Many serious artists fled abroad or retreated into silence, sustained only by a few galleries. Meanwhile, Italy pursued a misguided internationalism, chasing foreign novelty while failing to protect its own talent—unlike other nations. This snobbery toward local artists, combined with the art system's self-relegation to glamour, has left the visual arts largely absent from mainstream media's pandemic-era cultural campaigns, despite producing exceptional digital content. Nastro also notes that Italian curators were forced to work with foreign artists to gain recognition, while homegrown talent lacked biennial appearances, solo shows, and major commissions. She calls for a mea culpa and a restart that acknowledges these failures.