The Turin Book Fair canceled the presence of Vittorio Sgarbi because he was a candidate for Brothers of Italy in the Southern Italy constituency in the European elections on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June. “It is with great sadness – comments Sgarbi in a note – that I learn of the cancellation of the presentation of my book on Michelangelo Stupore e fear, (published by La nave di Teseo) at the Turin Book Fair, scheduled for Sunday 12th. The publishing house reassures me that it is not a matter of personal censorship (for which I should cry against the regime like Scurati), but of an unwritten rule which provides that those who are candidates for elections (I imagine of any kind) under a level playing field cannot present a book”.
Sgarbi adds: “It seems strange, and it is. But well beyond absurdity, given that the Book Fair is in Turin and I am a candidate for the European elections in southern Italy. It will be said that the Book Fair is a national event and therefore it can determine political influences and advantages also for those who present an art history book. I have not missed the Turin event (with related presentations) for 36 years, and I am sure that in many years I will have encountered electoral opportunities its restrictive interpretation also extended to non-television occasions, for which a level playing field was created – says the critic – is a disturbing signal for the recognized opposition between politics and culture, of which I have been a victim in recent times Italy because – concludes Sgarbi – it establishes harmful incompatibilities and, through prohibitions and limitations, instead of guaranteeing equal rights, imposes false duties”.
