18 May: International Museum Day

18 May: International Museum Day

The CDP Museum and our commitment to culture

18 May is International Museum Day, established in 1977 by ICOM - International Council of Museums, the leading international non-governmental organisation representing museums and their professionals. This year's theme is Museums, Sustainability and Well-being to highlight the role all museums play in shaping and delivering a sustainable future through educational programmes, exhibitions and community outreach.

To mark the occasion, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti is also celebrating its own museum. As of 2020, the Group embarked on a programme for the reorganisation, recovery, exploitation and digitalisation of its artistic and archival heritage. Thus the CDP Museum was founded, bringing together five collections - from ancient art, with paintings created between the 16th and 19th centuries, from the Monte di Pietà in Rome, to modern and contemporary art with works that are the expression of industrial patronage and the direct experience of artists in steelworks. In addition to the collections, there are two historical archives which, with 26 linear kilometres of documents and more than 20,000 photographs, tell the story of post-war Italian industrialisation and progress.

The CDP Museum is a member of the Museimpresa Circuit - the Italian association that brings together more than 100 museums and archives of large, medium and small Italian companies - and for us it is a form of social responsibility, a place for internal training, but also an opportunity for dialogue with new generations and reflection on Italian industrial culture.


Commitment to art and culture

The promotion of artistic and cultural heritage through museums is part of a wider activity in which CDP is also committed to promoting projects in partnership with museums, academies and theatres throughout the country, involving new generations and young artists.

We have partnerships with the Egyptian Museum in Turin for the museum's first educational project dedicated to suburban schools; with the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan for the “Future Inventors” programme, a digital culture workshop for young people; with theNational Academy of Santa Cecilia of Rome as the exclusive partner of the school of advanced training for young musicians; with the MAXXI L'Aquila for the project of temporary residencies for artists and educational approaches to art for local schools; with the Massimo Theatre of Palermo as the exclusive partner of the two young people’s orchestras, the Kids Orchestra and the Youth Orchestra.

Then there is the day-to-day work supporting public administrations to assist with investments in museums and works of historical and artistic interest: €21.6 million was provided to over 30 municipalities in 2022 alone. Finally, as part of the NRRP, we are providing technical advice to the Ministry of Culture on the use of four funds worth more than €1 billion to revitalise Italy's cultural heritage, benefiting 320 public entities.
 

Acqui Terme, the Paleologi Castle: from prison to museum thanks to CDP
Acqui Terme is an example of the CDP Group's support for cultural excellence in Italy with a view to the growth and social inclusion of communities. Our funding has contributed to works in the area, such as those at the Paleologi Castle, transformed from a fortress into a prison and now housing the Municipal Archaeological Museum. CDP made it possible to reconfigure the exhibition material and the museum archive.