Even when there is no damage?
«Not even, because it can lead to emulations, these glues, the paints… It really scares me».
He does the job he dreamed of. An unforgettable moment?
«I draw strength from small things, I like to go around the rooms, sometimes it happens that there is a group of students and I hear them say: “That’s the director, we saw the Walks!”».
What are Walks?
«Once a month I lead a “Walk with the Director” after closing time with empty rooms. This excites me: the last time there were two boys who came from Palermo to give it to each other.”
You are a rare example of a scholar who is also a good manager. Can you explain in a simple way how a museum is financed?
«To make you understand, on a budget, ours, of 17 million euros, the endowment fund, i.e. the contribution of all the members of the foundation, is 800 thousand euros. The difference is given by the tickets, books purchased, events, traveling exhibitions, teaching, fundraising, European funds that we manage to raise… These multifaceted activities are the puzzle that is our financial security.”
What are you preparing for the 200th anniversary?
«Many things, including a major renovation that will add 1,000 square meters, and we are creating a square that will be offered to everyone: you can come in to read a book, drink a coffee. An Egyptian garden will also be built.”
Turin does not seem to suffer from overtourism, but is it true that the discoverer of Tutankhamun, Howard Carter, suffered crowds of tourists as early as 1922, during his excavations?
«Yes, I just wrote a book about this story (In search of Tutankhamun, Franco Cosimo Panini, ed.). After the First World War, Europe was in a kind of collective trauma, for example in France two thirds of young people between 16 and 26 were no longer there, and many of them never had a grave. Just at that time, when in almost every family there was a widow and a mother who had lost a child, a tomb is found in Egypt. Under the ground, which hides jewels, everyone’s myth in archaeology. And, inside the first solid gold sarcophagus, there is the body of a boy who was 18 years old, the same age as many who were no longer there.”
Was the myth of Tutankhamun born like this?
«This created a real Tut-mania. Everyone wanted to go to Egypt. The archaeologist Carter couldn’t work, he went out with the finds surrounded by unbearable crowds.
The Egyptian Museum also has overtourism problems: now to avoid queues we require reservations and after Covid I halved the maximum capacity from 12 to 6 thousand people per day. We follow the Louvre policy: it’s not so much the entrances that count as working on the quality of the visit.”
A room in the Museum is named after Giulio Regeni. Have your relations with Egypt ever had difficulties?
«Absolutely not, because I believe that dialogue and culture teach us that any question can be asked. The urbanity of the tones has always allowed us to have excellent relationships. It is a country that is home for me.”
I know you don’t like to talk about it, but what do you think about the attack you suffered from Giorgia Meloni and the League, now that some time has passed?
«It made me think. I have impostor syndrome, I question myself a lot. I would like the museum to be a public place of dialogue: if an initiative created to be inclusive has not been understood, obviously I made a mistake in communicating.”
Seriously?
“Of course, one of the problems of our society, so polarized, is that we all surround ourselves with people who think like us, instead we must seek dialogue with each other.”
Then did Meloni continue the dialogue as prime minister?
“No”.
She had invited her to visit the museum…
“I hope that one day it can happen.”
Shall we renew this appeal?
“Absolutely. I think the Prime Minister has much more important problems than the Egyptian Museum, but if one day she could give me five minutes of dialogue it would be a wonderful moment of growth for me. To understand from her point of view what I did wrong, because, I repeat, I think that when she polarises, something has gone wrong.”
Did you ever fear that they might “kick you out” as they said?
“More than feared, both times I seriously thought about whether it was time to leave.”
Really?
“Yes. If a director becomes polarizing, then something is wrong. Both episodes caused me profound suffering.”
Luckily she changed her mind if we find her here.
“At the moment. We are all pro tempore.”
What stopped her?
«The affection of people. In September 2023, after that attack, I received 8,600 emails and 10 thousand messages.”
He also received solidarity from the academic world.
“Yes, but as we know, those who suffer from impostor syndrome can receive 10 compliments and one criticism, but that criticism makes them suffer terribly.”
Last question, childish, is it true that you speak ten languages?
“They are ancient languages, mostly I read them.”
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