Cipolletta named Palaexpo chief

(by Paola Lo Mele) (ANSA) - Rome, July 3 - 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).