Italy Raises Museum Prices To Aid In Flooding Relief After Devastating Pour

The Emilia-Romagna region of Italy has recently been devastated by floods. The torrential downpour endured for over two weeks, killing 15 people and leaving over 30,000 residents homeless. It has also impacted the infrastructure and agricultural aspects of the region. With so much destruction, quick action has had to be taken to aid the area and provide relief to its inhabitants.
 
Italian Prime Minister Giogria Meloni announced an aid package last week that amounted to €2 billion (US$2.15 billion). Part of that amount will be supplemented by a raise in state-run museum admissions by €1 (US$1.07) between June 15 and September 15.
 
The floods have also brought Emilia-Romagna’s rich cultural and artistic history to its knees, as historic sites, museums, and libraries have since been hit with the deluge of rain. Just recently, a protest held in Rome’s Trevi Fountain by a group called Ultima Generazione called for the attention of the public and the government as it dyed the waters black with charcoal. The demonstration was to get officials to understand that Emilia-Romagna was just the beginning. If no action is taken against the use of fossil fuel, the rest of Italy’s historical artifacts might soon follow.
 
With that, the move to raise admission fares had initially been discussed by the Ministry of Culture as a way to mitigate such protests from taking place.
 
Although, not all are on board with the idea, especially in this recent socioeconomic climate. Archeology professor Giuliano Volpe said in the Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper that a new trend in social equity hints at a decline in patronage at cultural sites, and that raising the prices may deter people from visiting even more. He reckoned that the government might be better off looking at other methods, such as purpose taxes, to aid the crisis.
 

[via Hyperallergic and ARTnews, ID 195624571 © GateGallery | Dreamstime.com]