Italy’s historical and artistic heritage has a problem so glaring and obvious that we end up not even noticing it: it fails to speak to those who visit it. With a few fortunate exceptions, our museums do little to help visitors understand and appreciate their collections, archaeological parks their ruins, or monuments our past. For seven out of ten Italians who never set foot in them, art and the past are nothing but a bore. Meanwhile, the others, who flock mainly to the most famous sites, often return home with a vague and fleeting sense of wonder, without anything new having been kindled within them.The reason why our cultural heritage does not speak to us, like Michelangelo’s Moses in the legend, is simple: it can almost never do so on its own. And until recently, we have not bothered to give it a voice. So today we are among the best at studying, protecting and restoring, but we have not yet learnt to ‘interpret’, and thus to offer the public new knowledge, curiosity and emotions. To spark their imagination. To make them want to see and know more.Giovanni Carrada proposes using this book as a starting point to begin building a new skill set—essential for those working in the world of cultural heritage—if not a new profession altogether. Because promotion—the real kind—is not measured in euros or tickets sold, but in the number of people enriched by the experience they have had.
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