海角大神

Is a 鈥淔ahrenheit 451鈥�-style fire the solution for Italy鈥檚 increasingly debt-ridden museums?聽

Perhaps not, but it鈥檚 certainly a powerful wakeup call to a government and populace busier worrying about the euro crisis and unemployment statistics.

So says Antonio Manfredi, the director of the Casoria Contemporary Art Museum (CAM), which is located in a small town near Naples, Italy. A little less than a month ago, Mr. Manfredi started to burn the gallery鈥檚 collection piece by piece, saying that he didn't have the funds for upkeep. 鈥淥ur artworks will end up being destroyed anyway, since institutions are not sustaining us,鈥� he told聽Italian daily Corriere della Sera before starting the protest.聽

The first to go聽was 鈥淧romenade,鈥� a canvas by French artist Severine Bourguignon, who approved of the protest and followed it on Skype. 鈥淚 hope that this action will help the Italian government reconsider CAM's situation,鈥� she wrote聽in The Guardian. 鈥淲ithout funds, CAM will be closed and its collection will effectively cease to exist.鈥�

Bourguignon鈥檚 piece was followed by many others, as meticulously recorded on CAM鈥檚 Facebook page.

Some contended聽that the protest is only the provocative performance of an attention-seeking artist 鈥� Manfredi is himself a painter, sculptor, and photographer聽鈥� and that because CAM is not technically a public museum, the government doesn't have to support it (although most private museums also receive some funding from the Ministry of Culture).聽

But there is no doubt that Italy鈥檚 culture sector has been hit hard by cuts because of the economic crisis.聽The Italian daily Republica reported聽that between 2010 and 2011 the Ministry of Culture鈥檚 funding saw a 14.5 percent decrease, dropping from 1.7 million ($2.2 million) to 1.5 million euros.

Despite its world-class cultural wealth, Italy invests in the culture sector less than other countries. According to a government report, in 2010 the Ministry of Culture received only 0.21 percent of the country鈥檚 budget (compared, for instance, to 1 percent in France). It鈥檚 no surprise then that several prestigious institutions are going through a rough time.聽

MAXXI, Rome鈥檚 contemporary museum, which opened only two years ago, has predicted losses of 11 million euros for 2012 through 2014. Naples鈥檚 and Parlermo鈥檚 contemporary art museums are also in deep financial trouble.

In the meantime, some organizations representing workers in the culture sector are protesting against low wages and the lack of adequate benefits. In a letter recently published in Corriere della Sera, they stressed the importance of what they do, which they say goes well beyond the workplace. 鈥淲e produce intangible but necessary goods on a daily basis: intelligence, relations, social welfare,鈥� they wrote.

Investing in culture is also the recipe called for by renowned writer Dacia Maraini, who in a recent trip to the United States was surprised by the interest Americans still have in Italian culture and history. 鈥淪houldn鈥檛 we focus obstinately on what we can do best instead of competing with China in producing cheap jeans?鈥� Maraini recently wrote in Corriere della Sera.