Visitor numbers to Italian state
museums in the first four months of 2016 increased by about one
million compared to the same period in the previous year,
leading to a 16% rise in takings, Culture Minister Dario
Franceschini said.
Speaking at a meeting of the International Council of
Museums (ICOM), Franceschini said the Italian government's
support of culture was "even more important in this difficult
period that the world is experiencing" and that culture could be
an antidote to terrorism and violence.
Franceschini said the rise followed a similar positive
trend in previous years, with visitor numbers up by 5 million in
2015. Numbers were being boosted by foreign tourists but also
Italians discovering the treasures of their country's heritage.
Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala told the conference that one of
his cultural priorities was the refurbishment project for the
Brera art gallery.
Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk said in a video message to the
conference that he hoped modern museums would develop a more
intimate side, and become less institutional.
"The aim of museums of today and of the future shouldn't be
to represent the state but to recreate the world of human
individuals, those individuals who suffered under tyrannical
oppression for hundreds of years," he said.
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