Opening of the Russian-Italian cross year of museums in Milan – society & culture

MILAN, September 30. / TASS /. An opening ceremony of the Cross-Year of Museums was held on Thursday at the Palazzo Litta in Milan.

As Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova noted at the ceremony, “in the new rapidly developing reality, in the enormous flow of information that is difficult to control and filter, it is the museums that are the reliable custodians of the eternal values ​​that shape the human worldview. . “

“Aware of the extremely important role that museums play in the life of society in Italy and Russia, we have called our event not just a museum dialogue. It is no accident that it is called a summit because the projects implemented by museums, the museum space itself as a place of creation do not simply complement Russia’s cultural calendar and of Italy, but in many respects define the orientations of the cultural policy of our countries ”, declared the Russian Minister of Culture.

Italian Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini stressed that “all cultural institutions and museums in particular have survived a very complex period”. “We have seen how gray our cities have become without concerts, with museums, theaters and cinemas closed. <...> I think the pandemic will be followed by an increase in cultural consumption, ”he noted.

“We have a large exhibition of works related to Venice coming up and later the Pushkin Museum will visit Venice, this is a joint work of the Pushkin National Museum of Fine Arts and [our] Venetian colleagues, “the Russian Minister of Culture said in response to a question from a TASS correspondent. She was confident that” the exhibition in Moscow will cause major excitement. “

“We have about 30 big projects coming up, but the most important today is the museum summit,” the official said.

She noted that during the meeting representatives of cultural institutions will discuss in particular support for small regional museums in the two countries. “It is very important that such representatives of the world-renowned professional community who meet today are concerned with supporting the small museum space in every region of Italy and Russia,” she stressed.

In response to a question from TASS as to whether similar initiatives are planned in the future with other partners, the Russian Minister of Culture noted that the effect of the first year of cooperation with Italy will be assessed. first.

His Italian counterpart said the Cross Year of Museums events will take place in many Italian cities, including Rome, Naples and Venice.

On October 1, delegations of heads of cultural institutions will visit the southern region of Calabria where a museum tour will be held.