Museo Ginori paralyzed as foundation awaits ministerial decree

The Fondazione Museo Archivio Richard Ginori has been paralyzed since October 2024, when its board of directors expired. President Tomaso Montanari sent an open letter to Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli denouncing a bureaucratic stall: a decree reappointing the board was ready in early December but inexplicably blocked, with the ministry ceasing to respond. The foundation can now only perform acts strictly necessary for survival, halting management of the museum park, external collaborations, educational initiatives, and loans to exhibitions. The ongoing restoration—a €1.9 million project that began May 20, 2024, to reopen the first and second floors—is also at risk, as decisions on the new exhibition design are suspended. The museum, closed since 2013 after the Richard-Ginori factory bankruptcy, was acquired by the state in 2017 on then-Minister Dario Franceschini's initiative. The Fondazione was established in 2019 by the Culture Ministry, Tuscany Region, and Sesto Fiorentino municipality. A further €5.5 million from the Strategic Plan for Major Cultural Projects was allocated for full building recovery. Montanari appeals for a prompt decision on the museum's future.