The city of Venice has closed all its museums in measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus. The private Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the Palazzo Grassi, and Punta della Dogana have also closed and the Venice Carnival finished two days early. Turin closed its institutions with an opening for Massimo Vitali at Museo Ettore Fico cancelled and a conversation between collector Uli Sigg and artist Ai Weiwei to mark the opening of Facing the Collector: the Sigg Collection of Contemporary Art from China at the Castello di Rivoli live streamed. In Milan, the civic museums, the city’s cathedral Duomo and opera house La Scala will also remain shut until the end of the month. The Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia is also shut.
The closures in Italy follow the shutting of all state-run galleries, museums and libraries in South Korea, and similar moves for the cultural and heritage sites and institutions in Iran. China and Hong Kong have been most effected by the pandemic, with the Art Basel Hong Kong art fair cancelled and the postponed opening of the new X Museum and He Art Museum.
25 February 2020
