Torino Musei loses 200k visitors in one year under new administration

The Fondazione Torino Musei, which oversees GAM, MAO, Palazzo Madama, and Borgo Medievale, saw a dramatic drop in attendance from 816,113 in 2016 to 616,960 in 2017 — a loss of nearly 200,000 visitors. The decline is attributed to the new Five Star Movement administration led by Mayor Chiara Appendino and Culture Councillor Francesca Paola Leon, who abandoned the blockbuster exhibition model of the previous administration. Under former mayor Piero Fassino and councillor Maurizio Braccialarghe, the city had hosted major shows of Impressionists like Degas, Renoir, and Monet, attracting record crowds (371,769 in 2015 at GAM alone). The new administration cancelled a planned Manet exhibition in 2017, citing structural weaknesses and over-reliance on personal relationships. A 20% budget cut to civic museums in February 2017, later partially restored with €3,371,000, was insufficient to prevent 28 staff redundancies. GAM director Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev noted that reinstalling the permanent collection is cheaper than mounting exhibitions, though investment correlates with audience numbers. Only Borgo Medievale saw an increase (149,607 in 2017 vs 143,000 in 2016).