Villa Giulia Museum Invites Local Shopkeepers for Free Tour

Valentino Nizzo, director of the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia in Rome since May 2017, launched an initiative on July 21, 2018, inviting local shopkeepers and business owners from districts I, II, and III for a free guided tour at 8:30 PM. Only 40 spots were available for this pilot program, aimed at turning merchants into cultural ambassadors. The tour includes a preview of the Sala dello Zodiaco, a 16th-century room with frescoes of zodiac signs and planetary deities, currently closed to the public and slated for restoration by 2019. Nizzo, selected via international tender under the Franceschini reform, has focused on community engagement, including founding the Friends of the Museum, hosting talks for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (featuring a tactile 3D replica of ceramic artifacts donated by System Graphic), and organizing a conference series 'Storie di persone e di musei' for 42 museums in Umbria, Lazio, and Tuscany during the European Year of Cultural Heritage. The museum also hosts the Premio Strega final. Nizzo's efforts have garnered local support, including a dialect poem shared on Twitter by Archeo Pasquino.