Culture has to be the drive to 4.0 capitalism

In 1998, Giovanna Melandri was nominated as Italian Minister of Culture. As of then, her measures led the country towards years of cultural politics including significant public resources. Since 2012, she is the Chairwoman of the Fondazione MAXXI - Museo delle Arti del XXI secolo, in Rome. A woman manager who combines culture and economy. A quality that led her to found “Human Foundation” in 2012, a private entity that offers innovative and impactful solutions, during a time of growing social needs. Since 2018, as the representative for Italy, she has been sitting at the board of directors of the “Global Steering Group for Impact Investment» (GSG), the global network for impact finance.

In this exclusive interview with Luxury Tribune, she talks about her strategies to relaunch the world of art and culture, starting with the MAXXI and the celebration of its 10^th anniversary with a great digital event, an international marathon, followed by millions of people, with some of the main players in the cultural world.

What is the museum’s function?

The MAXXI was closed to the public during several months, but it never stopped. The pandemic has been an opportunity to rethink this institution through a social and educational function, just like a workshop of critical thoughts and visions for the future. The closure damaged us deeply, but the digital aspect was a success, as we were able to touch 17 million people. We understood that the MAXXI is a collective intelligence, we wanted to invest in human capital. Many museums around the world, during this difficult period, reduced their education departments, while we strongly defended human skills. For us, the museum holds first foremost a social function, and the last component to suppress would precisely be research.