Comunicare il Museo Etrusco

The reorganization of the Italian Cultural Heritage Ministry in the last four years has completely revolutionized the system of management and communication of national cultural heritage. Among the most significant aspects of this revolution, undoubtedly, is the introduction of concepts, such as enjoyment, into the official language of the museum’s mission. The challenge for a new generation of museums, therefore, becomes that of educating and at the same time amusing, finding new ways of communicating through storytelling and emotional engagement. With these aims, the reform has included the Villa Giulia Museum among the first thirty museums in Italy to have special, scientific, managerial and administrative autonomy, which represents an important opportunity and challenge for the only museum with these characteristics entirely dedicated to the Etruscans and the others cultures of pre-Roman Central Italy. The Villa Giulia Museum is so far the only museum in Italy to have included as part of its mission the principles of the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (Faro, 2005). Many of the initiatives promoted so far have been inspired by these values, aimed at encouraging the active participation of citizens in the life of the Museum. Communication activities also moved in the same direction, with results that greatly increased the visibility and knowledge of the Museum and of Etruscan civilization.