Open letter concerning Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro (ISCR)

Dear members, dear friends, I ask you a small action which will
require few minutes of your time.It will be a significant help for
Italian culture and a valuable contribution for the international
field of conservation of cultural heritage. E.C.C.O. Committee
supports the initiative and ask you to give wide diffusion to it. We
have also informed ENCoRe asking for diffusion through its members.

Please sign, before the end of this month, the petition at:

    <URL:http://www.gopetition.com/online/33441.html>

    Dear colleagues,

    I inform you about an event  which is extremely serious for
    Italian culture.The Central Institute for Restoration-ICR,
    recently renamed Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il
    Restauro -ISCR, at the end of this month, February 2010, will be
    forced to leave the historical premises of San Pietro in Vincoli
    in Rome, where it was founded 70 years ago.

    The precipitous transferral of the Institute could compromise
    the forthcoming and opportune reopening of the Restoration
    School, and weaken the efficiency of the Institute's
    technical-scientific structures, leading to its inevitable
    closure.

    To stop this very serious process, which will be reflected
    negatively on the Italian prestige in the field of the
    conservation, an Open Letter to the President of the Italian
    Republic Giorgio Napolitano has been activated. The Open Letter
    has been registered on the website "gopetition", at the
    following address:

        <URL:http://www.gopetition.com/online/33441.html>

    Thank you for giving the widest diffusion to this information

    Mario Micheli
    mmicheli<-at->uniroma3<.>it

    OPEN LETTER TO GIORGIO NAPOLITANO, PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN
    REPUBLIC, IN SUPPORT OF THE ISTITUTO SUPERIORE PER LA
    CONSERVAZIONE ED IL RESTAURO

    Dear Mr President:

    Next month, at the end of February 2010, the The Istituto
    Centrale per il Restauro (recently renamed Istituto Superiore
    per la Conservazione ed il Restauro) will be forced to leave the
    historical premises where it was founded 70 years ago as a
    result of the final eviction order requested by the company who
    owns the building. The ISCR is one of the most prestigious
    Italian institutions, a fundamental reference point for
    international conservation and for its modernisation process in
    the field of conservation since 1939. Without the Government
    intervention, the Institute will be transferred to temporary
    premises, due to the lack of an adequate currently-available
    alternative site.

    The precipitous transferral of the Institute could compromise
    the forthcoming and opportune reopening of the Restoration
    School, and weaken the efficiency of the Institute's
    technical-scientific structures, leading to its inevitable
    closure. We would like to recall the extraordinary process that,
    in only two years, led to the creation of the Istituto Centrale
    per il Restauro proposed by Giulio Carlo Argan, with the support
    of the then-Minister of Education Giuseppe Bottai; recall the
    enactment of the law that provided for its creation, the
    preparation of the premises, and finally, the commencement of
    activities and international recognition at the end of the 1950s
    as a result of the work of its first director, Cesare Brandi.
    Today, we propose that the Institute be allowed to remain in its
    current premises for at least another two years.

    In the meantime, we also request the planning and realisation of
    suitable new premises. Additionally, we also suggest that the
    portion of Palazzo Borgia currently occupied by the Institute be
    converted into a Historical Museum for Conservation, in order to
    preserve one of the most prestigious pages in Italian cultural
    history.

    We now turn to you, Mr President, in your function as guarantor
    for cultural institutions, a role given to you by the
    Constitution, to intervene in favour of ISCR in order for this
    institution to continue its role in Italy and abroad.

Monica Martelli Castaldi
President of European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers
    Organisations (E.C.C.O.)


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 23:31
                 Distributed: Monday, February 22, 2010
                       Message Id: cdl-23-31-001
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