Art bonus also for historic houses and company museums

Italia possesses an extraordinary heritage of beauty, quality, technology and savoir-faire that must increasingly also become 'making known': not just production, therefore, but storytelling, transmission, awareness. The strength of our cities, our historical residences, our palaces and monasteries, as well as, even in urban areas, our production system lies in the profound relationship between culture and enterprise, between manufacturing and identity, between industry and territory, between beauty, as a sense of measure and as a form of balance, and technology. A true cultural heritage.

In Italia there is a widespread network of historical residences, company museums, historical business archives, foundations, technical and artistic collections that document the history of Italian 'savoir-faire'. These are places in which the memory of the work, innovation, design and technical ingenuity that have made Made in Italy synonymous with quality around the world is preserved and enhanced. Alongside the great public museums and traditional cultural assets, these institutes represent a cultural heritage in its own right, capable of recounting the economic, social and cultural evolution of the country.

An original characteristic of many Italian companies is their 'polytechnic culture': the ability to combine humanistic knowledge and scientific skills, aesthetics and technology, beauty and functionality. It is this synthesis that has allowed Italia to excel not only in the traditional Made in Italy sectors, but also in mechatronics, robotics, automotive, chemistry, aerospace and boating. In the museums and business archives, this integration becomes visible and tangible: machinery, prototypes, patents, projects, advertising campaigns and iconic products tell of a development model in which innovation and culture grow together.

Italia's history is made up of quality manufactures and factories of excellence, of large farms carved out of historic residences: places where not only economic wealth but also collective identity was built. Enhancing these spaces means recognising that culture is not separate from enterprise, but constitutes an essential dimension of it.

For this reason, the extension of the Art Bonus to museums and historical business archives and to historical residences - as proposed by Mr. Lupi, together with other deputies, in the current parliamentary debate - is a coherent and far-sighted choice. The Art Bonus has proven to be an effective tool in mobilising private resources to support culture, strengthening the collaboration between the public and private sectors. Permanently including corporate and historical cultural institutions means recognising their public value and incentivising investments in conservation, digitisation, opening to the public, educational activities and research projects.