Dandy and new minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli is a proud extreme right winger. His Grandad was a fervent fascist, marched on Rome and went to Salò, and his family has never hidden its affiliations. Giuli himself was a member of Meridiana Zero, an extreme rightwing organization and has always been on the far right of the Fratelli di Italia. He is also the president of the Maxxi – the largest modern art galley in Italy, which gets large amounts of public money from the Minister of Culture. Opening in December is an exhibition of futurism – the darling art movement of the fascists. In their first iteration, the futurists wanted to do away with museums and libraries in its headlong surge towards the future and all things it represented. This show is a little complicated – the curators of the show have been unceremoniously dumped after putting the show together, mainly, it seems, because the Minister of Culture wants to decide what the show will contain. The number of pieces on display has been halved, the costs have ballooned, and an entirely unqualified person – The Minister himself – is deciding how and what the exhibition could contain. Add to this Salvini’s desire to teach a different version of history in schools. The alarm bells hark back to the 30’s.
In other news or to be more accurate – not in the news at all – a second tragedy involving migrants apparently happened in mid June this year off the coast of Calabria. Unlike the terrible events of Cutro in 2023, this naufragio – with at least 42 victims, has not appeared at all in the media. It was all hushed up from the highest level. Another example of the tentacles of the government reaching far beyond what is reasonable. Probably, Meloni didn’t want to have to go to Calabria again and make sympathetic noises. Much better to let Salvini be a pound shop Trump and insult all and sundry.