Politics and cultural heritage - Finestre sull'Arte

France passes law on the restitution of works stolen in colonial times

France is taking a significant step in the long and complex journey of restitution of cultural property stolen during the colonial era. On the night of April 12-13, the Assemblée nationale unanimously approved a bill concerning the restitutio...
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Cultural heritage, what changes the recently passed law has made

What are the changes introduced by the recent law that revised the Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code? On March 11, the Senate gave final approval to the "Subsidiary Enhancement of Cultural Heritage" law, an initiative born in 2023 at the proposal ...
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Twenty years of Rolli in Genoa. Councillor Montanari speaks: "The UNESCO site is everyone's property."

The UNESCO site "Le Strade Nuove e il sistema dei palazzi dei Rolli di Genova" is celebrating its twentieth birthday: for Culture Councillor James Montanari, however, it must not be a tourist label or an economic asset. Indeed, if there is a lack of ...
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Who really owns the destroyed or stolen works? For a hypothesis of "cultural hospitality"

To enter a major European museum is often to experience a contradiction. On the one hand, wonder: Greek statues that do not seem to have lost an iota of their power, intact Egyptian sarcophagi, gleaming African bronzes. On the other the doubt that cr...
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UK government invests 1.5 billion in culture: its social importance recognized

The U.K. government has announced a total investment of 1.5 billion pounds (about 1.7 billion euros) earmarked for culture over the next five years, outlining what is being presented as a step change from more than a decade of underfunding. The packa...
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Crumbs for culture. If the government cuts 90% on MiC strategic programming.

Crumbs for culture: a 90 percent cut, or 182 million euros instead of more than 1.7 billion, on the largest part of the Ministry of Culture's strategic programming, namely the resources of the Fund for Development and Cohesion (FSC): allocations that...
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Tor de' Conti and planned conservation: half a century of missed opportunities

It was two months ago that the "Tor de' Conti," a noble building erected in the Middle Ages in the Imperial Forum area, collapsed. And it is unbelievable, but unfortunately true, that in 2025 one of Rome's most significant historical buildings could ...
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Budget Law 2026 approved: measures for culture and tourism

With 216 votes in favor, 126 against and 3 abstentions, the Chamber of Deputies approved the Budget Law 2026 at its session on Tuesday, December 30, 2025. Below, in detail, are the main measures for culture and tourism contained in the "State Budget ...
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