سه شنبه ۲۷ شهریور ۰۳ | ۲۰:۴۵ ۸ بازديد
arts, at the end of the past century, the Ministry has been entrusted with the full range of core cultural
functions: heritage, museums, libraries and archives, visual arts, performing arts and film, cultural institutions,
copyright, with the only exception being communications (radio television and the press). Tourism has been the
responsibility of the Ministry in two periods: from 2013 to 2018 and from 2019 to march 2021, when the
responsibilities were transferred for a short while to the Ministry of Agricultural Policies and then to a new
autonomous Ministry of Tourism.
In managing national heritage institutions, just under 500 museums with archaeological sites and monuments
fall under the direct responsibility of the Ministry of Culture, out of 5.000 in total. About a hundred libraries out
of about 7.400 and a hundred archives also fall under the direct responsibility of the Ministry, while the whole
domain of protection and valorisation of heritage is regulated by the Heritage and Landscape Codex (see chapter
3.1 and 4.2).
At the central level, the coordination of ministerial functions is entrusted to a Secretary General, which directs
and coordinates both 13 General Directions (DGs) and 17 regional Secretariats. Recently the DG for Tourism has
been assigned to the Ministry of Economic Development, untying it from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in
which it was previously based (see chapter 3.5.6).
In exercising its functions, the Ministry is assisted by four central, widely representative “advisory bodies” (the
High Council for Heritage and Landscape, the "Consulta" for the Performing Arts, the Permanent Committee for
Copyright) and by seven technical-scientific committees on specific thematic areas.
The DGs are technically supported by other relatively autonomous specialized “scientific bodies”, including the
Istituti centrali for Heritage protection and restoration, for Heritage cataloguing, for Books restoration and
cataloguing, for National Archives, for Demo-ethno-anthropological goods, for Graphic arts, for Audiovisual Goods,
and the Opificio per le Pietre Dure.
Since 2014, some of the major state cultural sites have gradually acquired economic and managerial autonomy.
Now there are 44 cultural institutes (museums and archaeological areas) with special autonomy, coordinated by
the General Direction of Museums, whereas the other national museums are organised under the Regional
Directions of Museums (see chapter 3.1).
In Italy the public State libraries are managed directly by the Department of Libraries and Copyright of the
Ministry of Culture (see chapter 4.2.5). Since 2016, Archival and Bibliographic Superintendents have been
established in all Regions, with the exception of those with a special statute.
The promotion of books and press is in the charge of the DG Libraries and Copyright. The DG’s activities range
from promoting reading, to coordinating libraries and the national library system. In 2019, the Central Institute
for the digitization of cultural heritage - Digital Library was created. It coordinates the digitization programmes of
cultural heritage under the Ministry’s responsibility and will also be responsible for projects for the digitization
of cultural heritage which will be funded with the resources allocated by the National Recovery and Resilience
Plan (see chapter 3.5.2).
The MiC, through the Directorate General for Film and Audiovisual matters, carries out support activities both
for film production, distribution and dissemination, supporting institutions, enterprises, cinemas and festivals
throughout the national and international territory (see chapter 3.5.3). In 2001 the administration of cultural
heritage endowed itself with a body dedicated to the promotion, incentivisation and enhancement of
contemporary creativity, through the establishment of a DG for Contemporary Arts and Architecture. The office
has undergone several changes over time and in 2019 its name was changed to the DG for Contemporary
Creativity, bringing together policies in a vast field of action: from cultural and creative businesses to
contemporary art, photography, fashion, and urban suburbs (see chapter 3.5.5 and 4.2.4).
The MiC performs also a wide range of activity in the field of education through its DG for Education, Research
and Cultural Institutions, which holds and carries out functions and tasks relating to coordination, design and
assessment of education, training and research programmes in the area under the responsibility of the Ministry
(see chapter 5.1). Still in the field of higher education, in 2014 the Ministry of Culture founded the “Fondazione
Scuola dei beni e delle attività culturali” (Foundation School of Cultural Heritage and Activities): an international
institution dedicated to training, research and higher education. It carries out activities of lifelong learning and
retraining for cultural heritage professionals, aimed at supporting changes in the cultural system also by a
strong internationally-oriented approach[1].
At the peripheral level, the MiC is split between administrative bodies – the Regional Secretariats – and techno-
scientific territorial structures especially endowed with the mission of safeguarding heritage at the local level:
the Soprintendenze, respectively related to the DG for Fine Arts and Landscape and for Antiquities.
Besides the MiC, other Ministries and institutional entities are also involved in cultural matters. The main ones
are:
The Prime Minister’s Office
The responsibilities for the allocation of financial support to the press, and for the conventions related to RAI
(the state agency for radio and television) for providing additional public services - broadcasting abroad, etc.- are
exercised by the Department for Information and Publishing of the Prime Minister’s Office, headed by an
Undersecretary of State for Information and Publishing.
The Ministry of Economic Development
Responsibilities for the media and ICT regulatory functions as well as for financial support to local radios and
television networks are entrusted to an Under Secretary for Communications, attached to the Ministry for Economic
Development. Its regulatory functions are carried out jointly with AGCOM (Authority for Guarantees in
Communications) (see chapter 4.2.6).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI)
The Ministry’s responsibilities for international cultural cooperation are mainly exercised in cooperation with the
Ministry of Culture (see chapter 1.4).
The Ministry of Education, University and Research
Since 2020, the Ministry has been split into two departments by a decree law, one the Ministry of Education and
the other the Ministry of Universities and Research, also comprising a General Direction for Higher Education in
the Arts, Music, and Dance, which is the main institution responsible for artistic and cultural education (see
chapter 5.1).
Legislative functions The State exercises exclusive legislative powers in cultural heritage protection. Legislative
functions lie presently with the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, and are notably exercised through their
respective Cultural Commissions. Besides the specific legislation in cultural matters, the yearly adoption of the
Budget Law presently allows both Chambers to play a relevant role in the funding system, as the Parliamentary
debates on this law often produce heated discussions on the pros and cons of public financing of culture (see
chapter 7).
[1] https://www.fondazionescuolapatrimonio.it/
1.2.3. REGIONAL AUTHORITIES
The twenty Italian Regions – all endowed with legislative powers and ad hoc administrative structures in the
cultural sector (regional departments for culture / “Assessorati regionali alla cultura”, in some cases associated
with other domains like education and tourism) – are split into two groups (see chart 3):
Five autonomous Regions, created in the post-war period and endowed with more extended competencies in
the cultural field. Out of these five autonomous Regions, according to their statutory laws, three – Valle
d’Aosta, Sicily, and Trentino-Alto Adige – also exercise, through their decentralised Soprintendenze, exclusive
and direct legislative and administrative responsibility for their own heritage assets, including the previous
“national”, now “regional”, museums and sites. The devolution of functions by the State took place in the
late 1970s. Therefore, in these three Regions there are no state Regional Directions for Cultural Goods and
the Landscape;
Fifteen ordinary Regions, established in 1972, whose cultural competencies were initially limited by the
Constitution (Article 117) to the supervision and financial support of local museums and libraries. The
subsequent devolution of responsibilities for “cultural promotion of local interest” (Law 616/1977), although
falling short to meet their demand for more cultural decentralization, came as a partial acknowledgement
of their active commitment in the field, the formula being vague enough to eventually allow the Regions to
legislate on a fairly wide range of cultural disciplines. According to the subsequent so-called “Devolution
Laws” adopted in the late 1990s, and to Constitutional Law 3/2001, ordinary Regions have now concurrent
legislative powers with the State as far as managing and enhancing heritage and cultural activities are
concerned.
The Regions have legislative power with respect to any matters not expressly attributed to the State or to the
concurrent legislation. In particular, the development of cultural and environmental resources is a matter of
concurrent legislation, for which the State only set fundamental principles. Therefore, with an approach based
on vertical subsidiarity, Italian Regions carry out specific activities on several areas of cultural policy. For
example, they support many training actions, covering the different ed
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