Open letter to Italian Culture Minister demands reopening of Venice State Archive
An open letter signed by over 100 scholars from around the world has been sent to Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, demanding the reopening of the Venice State Archive (Archivio di Stato di Venezia) at Campo dei Frari. Since pandemic restrictions were introduced, access has been severely limited: only 10 researchers per day are allowed in a reading room that can hold 70, opening hours have been reduced from 8:10-18:00 to 9:00-14:00 with only one afternoon, and researchers are forbidden to leave the building once inside. The archive holds 80 km of shelving and over 800 archival collections. Booking is by email only, with slots for September filling up within hours on June 15. No priority is given to early-career researchers or those with tight deadlines. The signatories include professors from universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, Princeton, Sorbonne, Ca' Foscari, and many others. They warn that the restrictions are devastating for research, especially for international scholars who have paid for travel and accommodation. The letter calls for a return to pre-pandemic access levels, including allowing up to 34 researchers with proper distancing, restoring afternoon openings, and reinstating conventions for volunteers and interns.
Key facts
- Venice State Archive has 80 km of shelving and over 800 archival collections
- Only 10 researchers allowed daily in a room that seats 70
- Opening hours reduced from 8:10-18:00 to 9:00-14:00 with one afternoon
- Researchers forbidden to leave the building once inside
- Booking by email only; September slots filled in 7.5 hours on June 15
- No priority for early-career researchers or those with deadlines
- Over 100 scholars signed the open letter to Minister Dario Franceschini
- Archive located at Campo dei Frari, San Polo, Venice
Entities
Institutions
- Archivio di Stato di Venezia
- Ministero della Cultura
- Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana
- Biblioteca Querini Stampalia
- Università di Pisa
- Università di Verona
- Università di Firenze
- Université de Paris
- EHESS
- University of Cambridge
- State University of New York
- Princeton University
- Université de Rouen Normandie
- Università di Udine
- Università Ca' Foscari Venezia
- Università di Siena
- Tufts University
- University of Oxford
- Suffolk University Boston
- Université de Grenoble Alpes
- CNR
- Université Paris1-Panthéon-Sorbonne
- Università di Torino
- Sorbonne Université
- Università di Roma La Sapienza
- University of Warwick
- Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata
- Universiteit Gent
- Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Barberini Corsini
- Università Bocconi
- King's College
- Università degli Studi di Padova
- University of Exeter
- Università di Padova
- Université d'Albi
- Institut Universitaire de France
- Ecole Pratique de Hautes Etudes
- St John's College
- Oxford Brookes University
- Ely Cathedral
- University College London
- Univerza v Ljubljani
- Université de Fribourg
- National & Kapodistrian University
- Staatliche Kunstsammlungen
- University of Nottingham
- Università del Molise
- Università di Milano
- Université Paris Est Marne La Vallée
- Brown University
- Université Côte d'Azur
- Université d'Evry Val d'Essonne
- European University Institute
- University of St. Andrews
- Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
- Università IUAV
- University of Glasgow
- Direzione Regionale Musei Veneto
- Rutgers University
- Stockholms Universitet
- Goethe-Universität
- University of Edinburgh
- University of Witwatersrand
- Universita' Marie Curie-Sklodowska
- Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
- University of Haifa
- Universite de Nice Sophia-Antipolis
- Università di Trieste
- Università di Cagliari
- Institute for Advanced Studies
- Université Savoie Mont Blanc
- Universität Augsburg
- Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania
- Technische Universität Berlin
- University of Leeds
- Universität Zürich
- Artribune
Locations
- Venezia
- Campo dei Frari
- San Polo
- Pisa
- Firenze
- Parigi
- Francia
- Cambridge
- UK
- New York
- USA
- Los Angeles
- Siena
- Boston
- Grenoble
- Roma
- Torino
- Verona
- Warwick
- Gent
- Belgio
- Milano
- Padova
- Exeter
- Albi
- Fribourg
- Svizzera
- Atene
- Grecia
- Dresda
- Germania
- Nottingham
- Molise
- Providence
- Rhode Island
- St. Andrews
- Glasgow
- Rutgers
- Stoccolma
- Svezia
- Frankfurt
- Edimburgo
- Witwatersrand
- Sudafrica
- Lublino
- Polonia
- Haifa
- Israele
- Nizza
- Trieste
- Cagliari
- Princeton
- Chambéry
- Augsburg
- Pennsylvania
- Berlino
- Leeds
- Zurigo
- Pesaro