The exhibition space of Città della Scienza was burned on 4 March by criminal hands. With an unprecedented level of public support from citizens, scientists, and colleagues, the staff of Città della Scienza want one thing: restore the museum where it was, as soon as possible.
But, according to the Italian politicians, they can’t.
The Minister of education and the Minister of development signed yesterday a decree by which a committee of 8 people will assess where Città della Scienza can be rebuilt, and will do a preliminary study on the governance of the “new Città della Scienza”.
Needless to say Fondazione IDIS completely disagrees with a decree which as prof. Silvestrini says, “takes Città della Scienza away from Fondazione IDIS, just like it happened in 2004″.
Silvestrini points out the factual mistakes in the decree: the decree says that Città della Scienza has been almost completely burned; in fact the exhibition area has been burned, but 3/4 of the institution is operational and working. He states that “the fire against us and the international scientific community took away the walls and the exhibits, but nobody can use this opportunity to hit us in the heart and take away from us our resources and our scientific and economic activities”.
It is totally unclear, he adds, how a committee can prepare a plan for a new governance when Fondazione IDIS is the only owner of Città della Scienza, and when the exploitation of Città della Scienza is one of the tasks of Fondazione IDIS by statute.
In the press release, Silvestrini adds that Fondazione IDIS has already asked an international consulting group to prepare a feasibility study to rebuild the science center. He also says that Fondazione IDIS will not take any public money if this means accepting opaque rules for its use and giving up the governance. It would not be the first time in Italy, he adds, when after a tragic event an ad-hoc governance system and ad-hoc financial streams are put in place in order to circumvent the legitimate institutions.
Fondazione IDIS does not agree with the decree and will not be bound to the decisions of the committee. If the City Council of Naples decides that Città della Scienza cannot be rebuilt where it was, Fondazione IDIS will create on the current grounds of Città “the garden of Shame”, an open air museum to reflect and remember about a criminal act and those who exploit it for other interests.
