The promotion of contemporary art in Italy: an institutional perspective

The aim of the research is to trace a critical history of the organization and tools of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage for the promotion of contemporary art between its establishment in 1974 and today. The study of the ministerial support to the contemporary in Italy opens up a series of crucial dilemmas that do not solely concern the administration of contemporary art, but have a more wide-reaching impact regarding the whole administration of cultural heritage. The research is based on the study of the archival documents related to ministerial activities and policies towards contemporary art, coming from the archives of the Directorate General for Budget and the Directorate General Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, the Quadriennale, the Triennale and the Biennale. The documents include ministerial acts, decrees, publics calls, circular letters, internal and external communications between the Ministry and its institutions. The research is complemented, through a multidisciplinary approach, with the analysis of the specific regulations and parliamentary debates surrounding the ministerial organisation and promotion of contemporary art. Several reforms followed multiple changes of government, leading to fluctuating expansions and retractions of the ministerial competences for the contemporary. After reconstructing the history of the ministerial organization and tools for the promotion of contemporary art and artists in Italy, the research defines their possible future evolutions.