Cagliari, councilor Picciau talks about her two and a half years at the helm of Culture and Entertainment. 

"My role as Councilor for Culture and Entertainment of the Municipality of Cagliari lasted just over two and a half years. Thirty-two months during which I had the privilege of being able to dedicate myself to two important and delicate sectors of city life such as culture and entertainment.  At the end of this mandate I feel the pleasure and duty to extend a series of thanks. First to the Mayor Paolo Truzzu for giving me this extraordinary opportunity to put myself at the service of the community. Even though it was my first time in a councilor capacity, I carried out my work with all the attention and passion that I have, even as an art historian, for these sectors that I consider strategic for the city but also fundamental for the quality of life of the people of Cagliari and of those who look with interest at our city. I would like to sincerely thank all the offices of the department, because without the extraordinary skills of the many people who work there I would not have been able to do anything. There are many names and so above all I thank my manager Marco Zedda, because he has constantly been a beacon who has kept the bar straight among the many rules and numbers that need to be looked at daily with a great sense of responsibility, because we talk about "what public".

“In recent months I have tried to make my contribution, aware of the fact that we have a great public and private heritage in Cagliari, an asset that is not easy to manage, especially in such a short time. And so I paid attention to the valorisation of artists and especially female artists with several solo exhibitions dedicated to them and hosted both in the rooms of the Municipal Gallery and in those of the Palazzo di Città: from Giovanni Campus to Mirella Mibelli, Lia Drei, Caterina Lai, Fratelli Melis and Liliana Cano. Without neglecting the national and international context with the shots of Inge Morath or the drawings of the great Hugo Pratt. While an unprecedented exhibition on Robert Capa is being prepared for Spring. And again Gastone Biggi and Ludica, a particular exhibition dedicated to designer toys. All initiatives that the Department has "embellished" with the production of dedicated catalogues. Among the projects aimed at promoting young artists in particular, seven editions of arteXarte have been held with the aim of valorising and making their work more popular by offering them, as unusual exhibition rooms, the shop windows or atriums of commercial establishments in the city centre. The list of initiatives we have activated would be long and this is not the place."

“For the first time, a tender was issued for the execution of the services of the three-year library system with a long-term vision and the solicitation of the application of the Federculture contract as a consequence of a program agreement signed by the Truzzu Council with the local trade union organisations, a reference contract in Italy for the culture sector, closer than other contractual forms to respecting workers' rights. The Federculture contract was also proposed to private entities on the occasion of the new tenders for the management of art centres".

“There were also difficult moments. During the course of the assignment, the Department was in fact strongly committed to managing, within its sphere of competence, the crisis of the Camù Consortium which involved a delicate dispute for the protection of the jobs of the over forty employees employed in the municipal centers of art Castello San Michele, the Ghetto and Exmà”.

“On the entertainment front, a new regulation has been established on the provision of contributions and the Cagliari live project has been created which in the two-year period 2023/2024 promoted over 300 titles a year including concerts, shows, theatrical events and educational workshops, renewed Filming Cagliari, with the agreement signed between the Municipality of Cagliari, the Department of Culture and Entertainment and the Sardinia Film Commission Foundation . The Department's Cultural Services also had the task of organizing New Year's Eve 2024 which saw Marco Mengoni's concert in the city. Among the last acts is the conference dedicated to the relationship between tourism policies and contemporary art museums in the Mediterranean which featured the Italian museums located in seaside cities and took place at the Passeggiata Coperta. The use of the contributions of the Sardinia Foundation blocked since 2018 has been planned, with which important cultural projects for the city have been financed. The Bacaredda Award established during the Floris administration has been reactivated and awarded with the Medal of Honor "destined for personalities who have brought prestige to Cagliari" both Silvana Migoni and Monsignor Baturi. The civic school of history is also being established."

“In conclusion, many things have been done and there is still much to do. Cagliari, the regional capital city, would certainly need to regain its role. And investing in culture is always a good deal. But we need to have a long timeframe that allows us to give legs to projects capable of making overall discussions. And we need to have the right dialogue with the other institutions because adequate economies are also needed to carry out the projects.

It was a very interesting, educational and demanding experience, even emotionally. One of those experiences thanks to which one fully understands what it means to administer public resources with a sense of responsibility. Thanks again to everyone."

Thus concludes the Councilor for Culture and Entertainment Maria Dolores Picciau,