L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS truth is, she can help us now even more and in more than one way. The Beauty of Italy can be — and should be — the real starting point of the coun- try's renaissance and of its people's new way of looking at life. Our museums and artistic attractions are slowly reo- pening: the week that just ended saw the Colosseum welcoming visitors again, and the S c u d e r i e d e l Q u i r i n a l e's exhibit to celebrate Raffaello in the 500th anniversary of his death finally opening its rooms after the lockdown. In Turin, the M u s e o Egizio is also open again, although only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with its online booking system — essential when avoiding queues and large gatherings remains crucial — tracking record ticket requests. The Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan is also open again, and so is L e o n a r d o ' s L a s t Supper, always in Milan, at Santa Maria delle Grazie convent. Some may think there are more important things to talk about right now than open museums, but I disagree. We said it, Beauty helped us during the lock- down and it will help us in these hard months and years of post-pandemic recession, depression and paranoia. Because Beauty opens the heart and gives us joy and pleasure, just like when we eat something nice. It carries our mind to a place where there is no fear and there is no Covid- 19 and that's an outstan- ding feature right now. Art and Beauty are good for our soul: we, as Italians, are starting off again from it, because they give us strength and they gives us hope. But there is more: Beauty is one of Italy's most important assets also when it comes to the eco- nomy. The last CNR-Iriss r e p o r t , curated by the Research Institute for Innovation and Development Services (Iriss) of the National Council for Research (CNR), and issued just a handful of weeks before the beginning of the Covid-19 emergency, highlighted that culture and art are the pulling force of tourism in the country, with more than 50% of foreign visitors traveling to Italy for its cul- tural and artistic wealth. There is more: cultural tourism is "rich tourism," as Mara Manente, the director of C i s e t (the International Center for Tourism Economy Studies at Ca' Foscari University, in Venice) states: "An interna- tional tourist visiting our country for cultural reasons spends, on average, over 150 euro (170 USD) per day, much more than what tourists coming for a sea or mountain holiday spend. This means that cultural tourism is not only essen- tial because it increases the touristic value of our terri- tory, but also because it is at the heart of an essential production chain for our economy." In other words, culture and art are the most remunerative part of Italian tourism, an industry worth 7% of our national GDP and defined the country's "own oil." And so, that's why seeing our museums open is so essential now, in the very moment the country tries to start over, to be born again, and to learn how to live a new, different life, while remaining faithful to its values and principles. Open museums are a sym- bol of the opening up of Italy to the future, of a country that wants and longs to make of this tra- gedy the starting point for a new beginning; they are also the symbol of a peo- ple, the Italians, who should never forget their ancestral relationship with Beauty and Culture, and should use them to enrich their minds, their souls, their hearts every day. Beauty and culture can be the key to I t a l y ' s r e n a i s s a n c e a f t e r Covid-19, just like Beauty and culture were the key to t h e R e n a i s s a n c e, all those centuries ago, a time in history when our country had no rivals and showed to the entire world what human genius could do. Before the pandemic, we had reached a point of no return in this country: we ran around, we failed to listen, we failed to see. Yet, the beauty of our land never abandoned us, nor did her culture. During these months of forced — and at times strained — stop, many of us rediscove- red, almost with surprise, how deeply the Beauty of our towns, cities, villages can help a heart that feels lonely or a mind that lives in fear. And, when the same thing can also beco- me the force that saves the country's economy, then it's a no brainer: it's time to give Beauty real credit for helping Italy — and Italians — finding a new beginning, a new renaissance. Continued from page 4 Venice, a city the whole world envy us and a symbol of the country's artistic wealth (Photo: Dreamstime) The Colosseum, in Rome (Photo: Deamstime)

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