Contemporary art does not interest Italians

"Italy is backward-looking and ignores contemporary art", complains Monique Veaute, the new director of the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, the property of the French François Pinault. "We are a country without leadership, even in the field of the arts. ... It is clear that the conservation of artistic heritage is fundamental. But we can no longer ignore the contemporary. Italy panders to the glorification of its artistic past. It does not exhibit contemporary artists who have to go to Paris or New York to become known ... . Today's Italy is going through a series of identity crises: other than the political crisis it is experiencing an artistic crisis where gallery owners have been transformed into mere shopkeepers."

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