Italy’s Mario Resca, framed in today’s Wall Street Journal
(image by Zina Saunders)
Having just written about how the economy might put an end to profit-driven rent-a-shows, I was disappointed by these comments, published today in a Wall Street Journal profile of Mario (“Big Mac”) Resca, whose planned appointment as Italian culture’s “super manager” provoked widespread opposition. (He’s now called “advisor”—one of several concessions to the critics.)
Francis Rocca reports:
“Our heritage is our ambassador around the world,” he [Resca] says, arguing
that Italy’s cultural “assets” should therefore circulate more freely.
Loans to foreign museums could be an important source of revenue as
well as prestige, says Mr. Resca.
I guess in Mario’s entrepreneurial lexicon, circulating “freely” is anything but free. At least Resca will be circulating freely: “He will be drawing no salary for his government work.”
Despite the shortcomings of some of his notions, his desire to make Italian museums more user-friendly is surely an idea whose time as come. The question remains whether an executive best known for his stint at McDonald’s is the right person for the assignment.