Venice's Civic Museums Face Leadership Crisis as Director Search Abandoned

The Municipality of Venice has decided not to appoint a new director for its network of 11 civic museums, which hold over 700,000 artworks, five specialized libraries, a photographic archive, and a storage facility in Marghera. Current director Gabriella Belli, who has led the museums since 2011, will step down in September 2022. Instead of a public selection process, the city plans to appoint Chiara Squarcina, current head of the museums area at the Fondazione dei Musei Civici di Venezia, as interim director, supported administratively by secretary Mattia Agnetti. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro cited cost-saving and "valorization of internal expertise" as reasons, also suggesting a scientific committee could fill the director's role—a body already existing in the foundation's statute but never convened. Critics fear a power concentration favoring the mayor, who serves as Vice President of the foundation and holds the culture portfolio. Over a hundred cultural professionals have signed a petition published on online journal Ytali, demanding a public call for a scientific director. The petition argues that Venice, facing a deep crisis of vision, needs competent leadership capable of innovation and dialogue with international best practices, not internal management logic.