(by Paola Lo Mele)
Economist and previous head of
Italian state railways Innocenzo Cipolletta has been named the
new commissioner of Palaexpo.
Mayor Ignazio Marino's choice came less than ten days after
the entire company board resigned.
Cipolletta will be tasked with directing the enterprise
managing Scuderie del Quirinale, Palazzo delle Esposizioni and
Casa del Jazz as part of Rome's civic museums foundation. The
mayor plans to include all the municipality's museums and
exhibitions spaces in the new entity.
The Italian capital's summer line-up of events, Estate Romana
2015, has begun and ''has the same amount of funding as last
year'', the town council said.
''There are 53 projects financed in 70 places throughout the
city, which touch on both the traditional and the
non-traditional: from street art to multimedia to festivals,''
culture councillor Giovanna Marinelli said on Thursday.
The funding is less ''than that in the past, but shows a
significant effort on the part of an administration that is
attempting a financial recovery.''
The events will continue until September 15, with two cinema
events. There will also be the city's culture: from 'Estate a
Santa Cecilia' to 'Luglio una Bene' and 'Casa del Jazz Summer
Festival.
Starting from next summer, the councillor said that Estate
Romana would - on its 40th birthday - will be in need of a
change and that ''the municipalities will have to take center
stage. We can help and support them, but they will be the
protagonists''.
During a conference with the city mayor at Centrale
Montemartini, Marinelli took stock of the situation about a year
after she was sworn in: +13% more visitors to civic museums,
+122% to free ones, +28% in tickets sold at the Auditorium Parco
della Musica, +30% in Teatro dell'Opera productivity, etc.
She then discussed future projects.
''We will dedicate every month between May and
September-October to specific themes,'' she said. ''May will be
for street art, June for international culture, July for music
and a large street dancers festival. For example, we want to
bring dancers to the Imperial Forum.''
The mayor instead underscored the startegic value of culture
and tourism for the administration and said that focus on
patronage in the sector had led to ''7,371,500 euros attracted
in 14 months. And this is only taking the restoration of large
works into account''. (ANSAmed).
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