A great amount of applications for positions on the boards of directors at Italy’s top 20 museums have been received by Italian Culture Minister, after the decision, for the first time ever, of allowing an international call for applications for the positions.
More than 1,200 applications from around the world have sent, forcing the ministry to take more time to review candidates for the positions. The new selection process was part of a broad package of reforms introduced by Culture Minister Dario Franceschini to reorganise Italy’s museum system to better preserve and valorise the national cultural heritage.
Specifically, the decree signed last December creates 20 autonomous museums and a further 17 regional museum ‘centres’ or groupings in the Italian regions with State-run cultural sites.
The international selection process concerns the appointment of directors for the 20 autonomous museums all over the country, including Rome’s popular Borghese Gallery; the national galleries of modern and contemporary art and the national gallery of ancient art also in Rome; Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, the Academy Gallery and the Bargello national museum; Venice’s Academy gallery; the Capodimonte museum and the national archaeological museum in Naples; and the Brera gallery in Milan.