Giovanna Melandri leaves MAXXI in the golden year – in terms of budget, tickets sold, takings – since she became president 10 years ago. "To Alessandro Giuli I leave a jewel: Italian, international European that needs a lot of work. A replacement is always among the possible options. A political choice was made, I respect it. I believe in the sacred value of institutions and will facilitate the work of my successor with an orderly transition process".
So the president of MAXXI begins her greeting to the institution that she raised and launched after joining it in October 2012 when she was appointed president by the Monti government. You make it clear, with your words, that the changing of the guard was not a forced choice and you take the opportunity to fix some key points: where did we start from, where did we arrive in these first ten years of " mighty work". It is an opportunity to thank the artists who have supported MAXXI and all the team who, together with her, have contributed to the extraordinary success of the Museum of XXI Century Arts. And they reciprocate her farewell with applause and a final standing ovation that speaks volumes about the deep relationship she has built over the years.
Melandri recalls that the one with the MAXXI was immediately a great love, "since it came out of the pencil of the great architect Zaha Hadid which brought me the first drawing to the Ministry of Culture. Maxxi is much more than a museum, it is community, experimentation, avant-garde, collaboration". From December 12 it will be Alessandro Giuli to guide him as president: the appointment decree was signed by the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano on the recommendation of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with a political choice of power.
“I'm leaving and, sure, I'm a little sad but very, very proud of the work we've done together. And above all calm because I know that the Maxxi team will guarantee continuity for this institution". Here is his account of the "beautiful, adventurous, collective, enlightened" story that he bequeathed to his successor.
Giovanna Melandri and MAXXI: what has been done in ten years
When it arrived at the headquarters in via Guido Reni in Rome, a stone's throw from the Auditorium built by Renzo Piano, few people worked at MAXXI, none with permanent contracts. Now they are a hundred, contractualized, and even more would be needed. Since 2010 MAXXI has welcomed 3,5 millions of visitors, also overcoming the pandemic lockdown, but the best year was 2022: compared to 2019 there was a 30% increase in tickets sold and del 76% of total receipts. The budget has gone from 7 to over 15 million, the Art collection it was enriched by reaching 678 works (from 235 initials).
Impossible to give an account of all the numbers of a management that has created 16 installations of the national public collection, over 250 exhibitions and projects specials, taking 50 of its exhibitions around the world to 100 museums including the Moma, the Barbican, the Beaubourg to name just a few. Among these are the great monographic exhibitions – Letizia Battaglia, Sebastiao Salgado, William Kentridge and many others. The MAXXI perimeter itself has expanded with the opening, despite the pandemic, of the MAXXI L'Aquila, the restructuring and opening of the Balla house in Rome, the expansion of the architecture and photography archives.
A mention deserves “the non-ephemeral collaboration – as Melandri defined it – between the public and private sectors. We have collaborated with over 250 companies”. A success that has allowed MAXXI – a private law foundation at the service of the public – to collect “16,5 million in fundraising revenues of which over 2 million in 7 editions of the Acquisition Gala” the last of which concluded a few nights ago. “Three companies – Milandri recalled – have always been generously by our side: Enel, Bulgari and Alcantara but many others supported us”.
The future: it is in the Grande MAXXI
Melandri will leave in mid-December. What will be the future of the Museum from then on? There are, of course, the big exhibitions coming up. The closest it will be Bob Dylan, retrospectrum which opens on December 16 or the one dedicated to Enzo Cucchi in May. But from a longer-term strategic perspective, the future “will be the great MAXXI, the expansion project that we presented in February and illustrated to EU President Ursula von der Leyen in June. “The goal is to make MAXXI one of the integral nodes of the NEW European Bauhaus who called gathered creatives from all over the Union with the aim of building together a sustainable and beautiful future”. For the Grande MAXXI, a loan of 42 million euros has been defined, a "treasure" destined to build a new headquarters connected to that of Zaha Hadid, the creation of a green belt equipped with the first microclimate island in Italy by Bas Smets and much more.
Melandri leaves the scene quoting Bob Dylan, recalling his new exhibition: "I will not look back". And paraphrasing Cesare Pavese he adds: "May the roses continue to bloom along the MAXXI path".
