The Ambassador Pasquale Terracciano during the meeting at the Embassy with the directors of British museums.
Dario Franceschini, the Italian minister of culture and tourism, visited London today and took part in a series of events illustrating recent cultural policy reforms and presenting Art Bonus, a project that gives tax credits to private individuals who donate funds to cultural initiatives.
Minister Franceschini met his British counterpart, Karen Bradley, the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, to discuss matters of interest to both of their countries, including the G7 meeting of culture ministers, which is due to be held on 30-31 March 2017 in Florence; the protection of cultural heritage in the event of armed conflict; and programmes of tax incentives for art.
Minister Franceschini then met representatives from the publishing sector to discuss increasing the number of translations and sales of Italian books.
The Minister’s busy timetable included two other meetings: the first with representatives from the economic sector to present the Art Bonus programme and the second with the directors of major London museums and other British cultural institutions to discuss their cultural reforms. The Minister and directors ended the second meeting by sharing best practices and discussing the challenges for museums and other cultural institutions in the current complex European and international context.
The Minister concluded his visit by taking part in a discussion at the Italian Cultural Institute entitled “Protection and promotion of cultural heritage in Italy – reform and modernity”, moderated by Enrico Franceschini, the UK correspondent for the newspaper La Repubblica.
