The military occupation of places of culture by Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano continues unabated, perhaps the most faithful executor of the propaganda strategy of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in wanting to affirm, military man, a right-wing culture. Evidently Sangiuliano thinks he is Giuseppe Bottai or even Giovanni Gentile!
It matters little if it involves dismantling successful institutions, which function very well, such as the Egyptian Museum in Turin, which has long been a desired objective of conquest.
Evidently, the fool that the excellent director of L’Egizio Christian Greco made the current prime minister, then only leader of the Brothers of Italy engaged in an electoral campaign, on 9 February 2018, has never been forgiven, which, following of attacks by members of his party against a museum initiative (among many dedicated to various categories of visitors) in favor of Arabic-speaking people, he had organised, accusing the director of practicing “reverse racism”, a protest outside the museum.
Greco, in a very calm manner, met an agitated Meloni in front of the Museum, trying to explain to her the meaning of that operation, among the many designed to attract new visitors, such as couples on Valentine’s Day or free tickets on their birthday. Initiatives aimed above all at the inclusion of many parts of society normally excluded from cultural life. With a vision of a Museum open to the city, capable of speaking to everyone, children, young people, the elderly, foreigners, and even immigrants.
If, in fact, one of the missions of a modern museum consists in establishing an active, and not univocal, relationship with the local community, also in the spirit of the Faro Convention on the value of cultural heritage for society, we cannot ignore the consideration that our communities are undergoing rapid and profound transformation, especially as a result of massive immigration. Furthermore, the Egizio is not a normal archaeological museum: it is a piece of Egypt and North Africa in Italy and Europe. Born in 1824, it is the first large Egyptian museum, even older than the Cairo museum (from 1858), and this year it celebrates its bicentenary. Not with banal rhetorical celebrations but with a great project of preparation and renovation.
The Egyptian Museum is also an innovative reality from a management point of view: it is a Foundation, established in 2004, which includes national and local institutions, the MiC, the Region, the Province, the Municipality as well as the Compagnia di San Paolo and the CRT Foundation . In 2014, the leaders of the Foundation hired the new director, with an international selection, choosing from among the various candidates a young and dynamic Italian Egyptologist, Christian Greco, who has been active in the Netherlands for years. In a decade of management, with the full support of the President of the Evelina Christillin Foundation and of the various institutions involved in the Board of Directors, primarily of the then minister Dario Franceschini, Greco transformed the Egizio, while fully respecting tradition, into a museum modern, lively, alive, inclusive, in active dialogue with the city and the community. A museum that has dozens of employees, mainly young people, has exceeded one million visitors, achieving substantial sustainability, has above all invested in research: it has started excavations and research in Egypt, has developed dozens of collaborations with universities and research centers Italian and foreign research, has multiplied the degree, specialization and PhD theses dedicated to the Museum, has produced numerous publications. The international reputation has grown enormously, as has the esteem of the scientific community and, what is not to be taken for granted, also the appreciation of the public and with it the induced economy. Cultural tourism in Turin has developed enormously, and much is due to the renewal of the Egyptian.
Recently the two main architects of this rebirth have explained their vision in a beautiful Einaudi book “The memories of the future. Museums and research”. In short, the Egyptian has gained general consensus, even from those who years ago criticized the reforms of museums and cultural heritage promoted by Minister Franceschini, which found one of the best applications in the Turin museum.
But the rudeness evidently continued to dig its furrow underground. There has been pressure on Sangiuliano for some time to show Christian Greco the door. Then we focused on the president, who is at the end of her mandate and who only asked to peacefully complete the bicentenary projects. Sangiuliano began to leak the name of Zahi Hawass as president of the Foundation. But other names, even much less prestigious ones, are circulating in well-informed circles. It is actually an indirect (and not even very subtle) way to get rid of Greco, perhaps forced to resign because he is no longer placed in the conditions of necessary freedom and serenity to be able to carry out his projects. Without the trust and full support of Evelina Christillin, Greco would have been able to do little.
How can the minister not understand that by sending Christian Greco away from the Egizio he is not harming Greco, who would find a prestigious place in other international museums or universities without great difficulty, but he is harming the Egizio and Turin?
Among the various initiatives that have arisen to try to block this senseless decision to dismantle the management structure of the Museum and the Foundation, an appeal is attracting enormous support (over 350 signatures from the world of archaeology, arts and culture), now published in La Stampa, of which I report the text:
Open letter from the scientific community in support of the Egyptian Museum
Dear all,
this letter is addressed to everyone, because culture belongs to everyone.
After less than a year, we are once again taking to the field in defense of the Egyptian Museum of Turin: we strongly ask that the Museum can continue to represent a national and international point of reference for Egyptologists, archaeologists, researchers, scientists, university professors and students.
The excellent work carried out by President Evelina Christillin, who coordinates a close-knit and efficient team, has made the Egyptian Museum an example for other institutions, ensuring that it becomes a bridge and an important communication channel between Italy, and therefore the ‘Europe, and Egypt.
We therefore ask that the President be confirmed at least until the end of the work for the Bicentenary, and that the Museum be allowed to continue working at the service of the entire society, as it has done in the last 10 years.
We therefore express our full support and great gratitude to the Egyptian Museum, its leaders and its staff for everything they have done, are doing and will do for all of us.
Despite these protests, as a proud Neapolitan, Minister Sangiuliano decided to take inspiration from the 1971 film by his famous fellow citizen Pasquale Squitieri: “Revenge is a dish best served cold”.
Maybe he is convinced that he is doing something that is pleasing to his boss. However, it is not entirely excluded that his initiative turns into a boomerang. Just a few days ago, speaking with colleagues from Turin about these attempts, which have been underway for months, to delegitimize and oust the Christillin-Greco duo, it was pointed out to me that not only would the opposition of various institutions manifest itself (as is actually manifesting itself) , but that there would also be a real popular uprising of the Turin community, and not just those aligned to the left. A former great mayor, Valentino Castellani, in a seminar on the transformation of Turin from an industrial city to a cultural city, claimed regarding the threat of the Egyptian without Greek: “they will have to pass over my corpse and those of the people of Turin”.
Who knows, perhaps unknowingly Sangiuliano is ensuring that merit, ability and positive results can finally become a transversal asset.
