Art historians, protest against the Ministry of Culture: garrison on April 28

Tension is growing around the Ministry of Culture ’s decision to let the ranking list for the MiC 518 public competition for the profile of Art Historian Officer, due to expire on May 30, 2026, lapse. A decision that has prompted the reaction of CISDA - Comitato Idonei Storici dell’Arte, which has announced a protest garrison planned for April 28 in front of the Ministry’s Roman College headquarters in Rome. The initiative will take place from 12 to 2:30 p.m., with an appointment at Via Nicola de’ Cesarini, and is the culmination of a mobilization aimed at obtaining the extension of the rankings. At the center of the protest are 204 eligible candidates who passed the selections of the competition announced in 2022, published in Official Gazette No. 88 of Nov. 8, facing a path defined as rigorous and demanding both professionally and personally.

According to the committee, the ministry’s decision would represent an administrative anomaly, since until now the administration has never let competition rankings lapse without extension. A choice that is also deemed politically unacceptable, especially in light of the structural staffing needs that characterize the ministry. The issue is part of a broader context of reorganization and human resource needs. The change at the top of the delegation, with the entry of Undersecretary Giampiero Cannella in place of Gianmarco Mazzi, has coincided with a phase of redefining internal arrangements, but has so far produced no concrete signals on the ranking issue.

CISDA points out that that of art historians is the only still active ranking list among those related to the MiC 518 competition that has not been exhausted, unlike those referring to other professional profiles. A disparity that, according to the committee, risks translating into real discrimination against a category already penalized by years of blocked turnover and persistent underestimation of the art historian’s strategic role within the administration.

Making the ministry’s choice even more controversial is the fact that new calls for personnel recruitment have been launched in parallel. Recently, in fact, the MiC published a competition for 577 staff in the Officials Area and a call for mobility for an additional 120 positions. Decisions that, according to the committee, would demonstrate the need to strengthen staffing levels, making it incomprehensible that they would not draw from a ranking list already available and composed of selected professionals.

The numbers highlighted by CISDA and also recalled in a parliamentary question submitted by Senator Giuseppe De Cristofaro (Italian Left) paint a picture of chronic shortages. In fact, the Ministry of Culture has a deficit of more than 6,300 units compared to the planned staffing level. In particular, in the area of technical officials there are about 1,800 vacant positions.

The situation appears particularly critical with regard to art historians. There are barely 200 professionals in this area working in the 500 or so state museums, while in the superintendencies the number is around 140. Even more fragile is the condition of export offices, fifteen throughout the country, lacking dedicated staff and forced to function through shifts of officials already burdened with numerous assignments.

According to the ministry’s Integrated Plan of Activities and Organization 2026-2028, the total need is more than 6,300 out of a planned budget of about 19,000. In the area of technical officers, compared with more than 5,600 planned posts, there is a shortfall of nearly 1,800. The recruitment plan calls for the entry of 289 units in 2026 and 834 in 2027, numbers that, according to the promoters of the protest, would not be enough to fill the gap.

In this scenario, not using the ranking list is interpreted as a waste of public resources. Not hiring the 204 eligible candidates already selected, the committee argues, would mean giving up immediately available skills and instead resorting to new competitive procedures, with additional costs for the administration.

The matter has also landed in parliament. The question addressed to the Minister of Culture asks whether the government is aware of the situation and whether it does not consider it appropriate to intervene to extend the ranking list and ensure its full use. Among the questions posed is also one regarding the measures the executive branch intends to take to strengthen staffing levels and ensure an adequate level of coverage, which is essential to ensure the effectiveness of the activities of protection and enhancement of cultural heritage.

The issue, in fact, concerns not only the employment prospects of the eligible, but also the overall functioning of the culture system. The shortage of personnel, as highlighted in the text of the question, slows down administrative procedures, negatively affects protection activities and risks compromising the effectiveness of public action, while also fueling mistrust in institutions.

For CISDA, the extension of the ranking list is an immediate solution consistent with the principles of good performance and economy of administrative action. The full use of the current rankings, the protest promoters argue, would make it possible to intervene on a structural criticality without further aggravation for public finance.

CISDA also collected some testimonies. One professional, with a Ph.D. in art history, says, “Two years ago I was successfully taking the oral test of the MiC518 competition. I remember the joy and satisfaction I felt when I scouted my competition code in the list of admitted: after months of study and two trips Bologna-Rome and back, my effort was finally being rewarded. Nonetheless, that state of mind clashes considerably with the fear I am feeling these days, at the thought that all the sacrifices that brought me through this competition may go to waste. The prospect that the ranking list will expire without being extended, throwing to the wind not only my hopes and efforts, but also those of 203 other colleagues and associates, should dismay not only me (and we art historians and historians involved), but the very administration that allows it.” She is echoed by a colleague: “The extension and sliding would mean finally being able after a few dark and uncertain years to make my passion the one job I want and for which I have always felt ready. I really hope that this last collective effort will lead to the goal that is everyone’s, because without it I really wouldn’t know how to do it. Needless to say, the unreassuring rumors of the last few weeks have cast a considerable sense of panic and some distrust on the actions taken by MiC but I want to think that being part of the CISDA group and working together for the presidium can turn things around.” And again, another professional: “After a degree, doctorate and thirteen years of experience, with leading collaborations all over Italy, I now work at the supermarket on the side. Not extending this ranking is yet another hoax after years of waiting.” Finally, yet another entry: “In 2022 I participated in a competition as an art historian official that had been awaited for years. Years in which I had to do jobs that I never loved but that I did always having as a goal (and hope) that I could finally enter the Ministry. Now this hope is being shattered because, perhaps, MIC does not intend to extend the ranking list. The April 28 presidium is therefore part of a mobilization that aims to bring the issue of human resources in public cultural administration back to the center of the debate. At stake is not only the fate of 204 professionals, but also the state’s ability to ensure effective and sustainable management of its cultural heritage.”

There is also support in the world of associationism for CISDA. “A strong wish for the extension of the ranking list, which could offer opportunities to this treasure trove of experts in the historical and artistic heritage, as already reported several times, without immediate constraints for the administration,” says Rita Paris, president of the Bianchi Bandinelli Association. “It is only a matter of leaving open possible job opportunities for those who have devoted years of their lives to study and training.”

These, on the other hand, are the statements of the Italian Association for the History of Art Criticism (SISCA), ETS, Consulta Universitaria: “SISCA, in coherence with its scientific and institutional aims, draws attention to the issue of the recruitment and employment of art historians within the Ministry of Culture. In recent years, numerous data and feedback from the Ministry’s own institutions point to a condition of persistent shortage of art historian officers, in the face of a widespread and complex heritage that requires high and continuous specialized skills. This situation has negative repercussions on the effectiveness of protection activities and the quality of research, enhancement and management processes of cultural heritage. It also risks compromising the continuity between higher education courses and the natural areas of public employment of historical-artistic skills, to the detriment of generational turnover and the transmission of specialized skills. In this framework, it seems appropriate to promote a comprehensive reflection on recruitment policies, in order to ensure their consistency with the real needs of the administration and the full exploitation of the professionalism trained through paths of high qualification. SISCA, while respecting the different levels of institutional responsibility, therefore hopes that choices in this area can be oriented to criteria of rationality, continuity and sustainability, including through an open discussion between the administration, the scientific community and stakeholders. The Society remains open and available to contribute, to the extent of its competence, to a shared in-depth examination of these issues.”

Art historians, protest against the Ministry of Culture: garrison on April 28

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