The Museum
Founded in 2016, the Museum of Civilizations is an institute that vaunts special autonomy granted by the Ministry of Culture.
The Museum of Civilizations was established as a major international museum focused on human beings and their multiple cultural expressions in relation with other living species for the greater appreciation, preservation, and sharing of memories, testimonies and perspectives.
The Museum is located in Piazza Guglielmo Marconi in Rome’s EUR district and divided into two locations: the Palace of Sciences, which houses the prehistory and protohistoric, palethnology and litho-mineralogy, early middle-ages, archaeological, ethnographic, and art history collections of non-European origin of colonial provenance currently being re-catalogued, and the Palace of Folk Art and Traditions, which houses the collections of Italian folk art and traditions. The building complex was designed as part of the urban-architectural project of the 1942 Rome World’s Fair by architects Luigi Brusa, Gino Cancellotti, Eugenio Montuori, and Alfredo Scalpelli under the coordination of Marcello Piacentini.
Collections on display in the Palace of Sciences
The following collections on display in this building were acquired and combined in different moments to become part of the Museum of Civilizations in the period between 2016 and 2022:
- The National Prehistoric Ethnographic Museum, founded by archaeologist Luigi Pigorini in 1875 and opened the following year in a wing of the Palazzo del Collegio Romano, which also housed the prehistory and ethnographic collections of the Kircherian Museum, one of the world’s most fascinating pre-modern Wunderkammers (“chamber of wonders”) in its day;
- The National Oriental Art Museum, inaugurated in 1957 in Palazzo Brancaccio, with its artifacts from the archaeological expeditions of the IsMEO-Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East co-founded in 1933 by explorer, religious scholar, and Tibetologist Giuseppe Tucci;
- The collections of the closed African Museum – formerly the Colonial Museum (1914-35) and the Italian African Museum (1935-43), and the African Museum (from 1947 until its closing in 1971)– currently being re-catalogued;
- The paleontology and litho-mineralogy collections of the ISPRA Institute for Environmental Protection and Research received from the Royal Geological Office established in 1873 thanks in part to the work of Quintino Sella and Felice Giordano and transferred here in 2022 on indefinite loan;
- The National Early Middle-Ages Museum, transferred here in 1967 from the National Museum in Rome.
Collections on display in the Palace of Folk Art and Traditions
The following collections displayed in this building have arrived from the following sources since 1956:
The National Folk Art and Traditions collections, most items here were brought together in 1911 on the occasion of the celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of the unification of Italy simultaneously held in Turin, Florence and Rome, and particularly, of the Ethnographic Exhibition and Regional Exhibition held in Rome at the same time as the first Congress of Italian Ethnography. Currently introduced by contemporary artist Gianfranco Baruchello’s Psicoenciclopedia possible, a compendium that enables the processing of this articulated vastness of these encyclopedic collections by each individual’s personal intelligence and sensibility, visitors are accompanied on the tour by 3 emblematic figures of this museum and its history: anthropologists Lamberto Loria (1855 -1913), Annabella Rossi (1933 -1984), and collector Gennaro Evangelista Gorga (1865 -1957).
The Museum’s Mission
Founded in 2016, The Museum of Civilizations is an institute granted special autonomy by the Ministry of Culture and functionally dependent on the General Directorate of Museums operating in the service of society and its cultural development.
The institute preserves the collections transferred to the Museum of Civilizations at its founding or subsequently from the museums below:
- The Luigi Pigorini National Prehistoric Ethnographic Museum
- The Giuseppe Tucci Oriental Art Museum
- The ISPRA Institute for Environmental Protection and Research
- The former Colonial Museum
- The Folk Art and Traditions Museum
- The Early Middle-Ages Museum
The Museum of Civilizations is specialized in the fields of prehistory and protohistory archaeology, bio-archaeology, palethnology, litho-mineralogy, physical anthropology, demo-ethno-anthropology, ethnography and art history. Its mission is to conserve, display, increase and enhance these collections in order to help preserve the tangible and intangible cultural heritage they form as a whole while also promoting study and research also in the field (conducted using in-house resources and with other institutes) in every area that regards the scientific and humanities disciplines pertaining to its collections and disseminating such studies and research to both the scientific community and the public.
In promoting this cultural heritage, the Museum of Civilizations works with the Ministry of Culture’s central and peripheral offices in authorizing loans of collection assets for temporary national and international exhibitions. As a many-faceted institute, it provides technical and scientific advice to other organizations and develops training activities for the public that foster the participation of the citizenry and promote interrelation with the different heritage communities of reference, origin and provenance of the collections.
The Museum of Civilizations is also committed to:
- Supporting research, starting with rigorous reconstruction of provenance that leads to the rewriting of the history of each finding, artifact and document with respect to both its original context and subsequent museum interpretation;
- Defining itself as an interdisciplinary/inter-institutional research center that fosters cooperation between individuals inside and outside the Museum, such as researchers, visual artists, writers, actors, dancers, musicians, nutrition experts and chefs, and a host of other figures for the continuation of interdisciplinary research and ongoing inter-institutional discussion
- Promoting intersectionality and pluriversality, by welcoming and reflecting upon intersectional and pluriversal positions with awareness of the context in which a contemporary anthropological museum operates at national and international level;
- Reviewing its categories and terms through new analysis that redefines the categories and terms it uses in expositions and descriptions, sharing knowledge that combines the past and the present;
- Connecting with current times, linking museum collections and research projects to the most urgent contemporary issues in order to respond to scenarios defined by factors such as climate crisis, unequal resource access, and institutional de-colonization, among others;
- Rethinking and sharing institutional history and thought, also by progressively revising the layout of the Museum’s collections, reassessing criteria for cataloging, study, display, and by distributing and furthering the knowledge it embodies;
- Catalyzing the future through new questions by changing from being a holder of answers and one-sided teaching to becoming a herald of new scenarios and alternative ways to acquiring knowledge, promoting paths of sustainable change and adopting institutional practices based on caring, accountability with the return and sharing of critical and self-critical knowledge.
An Ethical Museum
Along its encyclopedic collections, the Museum of Civilizations holds an abundance of objects of non-European provenance. Inserted in museum inventories and catalogs at different times and in different contexts, they often also reflect modes of acquisition resulting from asymmetrical or predatory power relations between native peoples and European explorers or colonizers that began in the 16th century.
The widely different stories behind these objects were not always clearly told in the documentation of the period and some have yet to be comprehensively studied.
Aligning with current processes in leading European and international ethnographic institutions, and in keeping with the ICOM Code of Professional Ethics, the Museum of Civilizations is launching a series of projects aimed at reconstructing the biographies of all the collections through dialogue and participation with individuals and collectives native to or descended from communities linked to the collections’ places of origin and provenance, including representatives of indigenous communities, artists from various fields, and activists. In such way, the histories of objects on display are reread and rewritten from critical perspectives and by interrogating alternative sources and original knowledge in a progressive recontextualization of elements previously included in historiography, thus restoring—with the conscious adoption of postcolonial, decolonial, and anticolonial practices—their historical complexity and epistemic intersectionality.
The preservation and enhancement activities pursued by the Museum—a member of the ICOM Provenance and Decolonization Working Group—include research conducted together with academies, research centers, national and international universities, and projects organized within institutional networks involving other African, American, Asian, European and Oceanian museums. This research into the history of the Museum collecting practices is mirrored by the gradual rearrangement of all its collections currently in progress, accompanied by their re-cataloging and digitization, as well as by sharing such processes with scholars from the countries of origin of the objects.
Inherent in these processes is the special attention given to human remains and other “sensitive” materials that continue to hold sacred meaning and value for the descendants of the communities of reference and for which reason they assume the status of “subjects” rather than objects. It is the Museum’s intention to respect these meanings and values by ensuring an approach based on direct access and constant consultation with the communities of origin and provenance, in such way committing itself to adopting the methods and rules of conservation and display indicated by these communities. This approach is meant to ensure adherence to the sensitivities, belief systems, and knowledge mechanisms of the communities to which the artifacts belong.
Lastly, this research and the projects that ensue also serve in preparing documents and reports that assist the Italian Ministry of Culture in any requests for restitution submitted. The Museum of Civilizations has also served as a member of the Working Group for the Study of Colonial Collections set up by the Ministry of Culture in support of the Committee for the Recovery and Restitution of Cultural Property assigned to mapping collections of non-European origin, identifying possible guidelines, and preparing historically- and scientifically-motivated documentation for use in processes regarding requests for restitution.
The work method being enacted by the Museum of Civilizations on the whole reflects merely the start of a process of self-verification and ethical re-assessment that will continue in order to develop and expand over time in step with emerging needs of contemporary society. This website page will also evolve over time, promptly accompanying and substantiating the research and projects being conducted.
Organization and Contacts
Directorate
Director: Andrea Viliani (resume being updated)
The Museum Director can rely on an Administrative Secretary who offers support in every aspect of administration, helps draft the yearly performance report, fight corruption, plan steps in implementing the Three-Year Plan for Prevention of Corruption and Transparency and Integrity, distributes information on matters of particular relevance through circulars/directives, files appeals, and participates in recruiting personnel.
Manager: Antonietta Martinucci, funzionario amministrativo
The Museum Directorate’s Prevention and Protection service is currently composed as follows:
Alessandro Bernoni, Prevention and Protection Service Manager (RSPP)
Debora Farina, appointed physician
Carmelo Raimondo, appointed physician
Employee Safety Representative
Sabina Cappai
Management offices
Managerial activities coordination
Anna Maria Pecci, external consultant
annamaria.pecci@cultura.gov.it
+39 0654952234
Institutional relations
Manager: Antonietta Martinucci, administrative secretary
Trade Union relations
Manager: (to be appointed)
Ceremonial services
Manager: (to be appointed)
Development programing
Manager: Museum Director
Staff
Directorate staff management: Rosa Anna Di Lella, demoethnoanthropologist official Gaia Delpino, demoethnoanthropologist official
Alessandra Sperduti, anthropologist official
Francesca Manuela Anzelmo, art historian official
Antonietta Martinucci, administrative secretary
Laura Giuliano, archeologist official
Alessandra Montedoro, conservation restorer official
Conservation, study and management of collections and archives, Educational Services and Research
Area Manager and Coordinator
Laura Giuliano, archeologist official
Managers and Coordinators of activities indicated for which curatorship is also assigned:
Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Archeo-zoological collections
Francesca Alhaique, anthropology official
Neolithic, Eneolithic, Bronze Age, and Foreign Collections
Paolo Boccuccia, archeologist official
Iron Age
Myriam Pierri, archeologist official
Bio-anthropology
Francesca Candilio, anthropologist official
Alessandra Sperduti, anthropologist official
Oceania
Maria Onori, art historian official
America
Francesca Manuela Anzelmo, art historian official
Camilla Fratini, demoethnoanthropologist official
Africa
Gaia Delpino, demoethnoanthropologist official
Islamic world
(to be appointed)
East Asia
Pierfrancesco Fedi, art historian official
Asia (the former Luigi Pigorini Museum collections) Gandhara, India, South-east Asia, and the former MNAO Asia Collections Numismatic Area
Laura Giuliano, archeologist official
Tibet, Nepal
(to be appointed)
Early Middle-Ages
Stefano Pintor, archeologist official
The former Colonial Museum
Gaia Delpino, demoethnoanthropologist official
Rosa Anna Di Lella, demoethnoanthropologist official
Italian Ethnography
Maria Ludovica Piazzi, art historian official,
Francesca Romana Uccella, demoethnoanthropologist official,
Sara Visco, administrative official
Contemporary Arts and Culture Collections
Matteo Lucchetti, external consultant
Conservation and Restoration
Manager and Coordinator of the Palace of Sciences Conservation and Restoration Workshop
Alessandra Montedoro, restorer official
alessandra.montedoro@cultura.gov.it
Contact person for ceramic and glass materials, metals, natural and synthetic organic materials, photographic material, goods from the second half of the 20th and 21st centuries, and contemporary arts and cultures
Serena Francone, conservation restorer official
Contact person for decorated surfaces of architecture, stone and stone-derived materials, stucco, paintings on canvas and board, painted wood, graphic works, paintings on paper, book and archival paper materials
Giulia Cervi, conservation restorer official
Laura Tocci, conservation restorer official
Storage
Storage and Preservation Manager
Giulia Cervi, conservation restorer official
Asset management and legal protection manager:
Prehistory
Paolo Boccuccia, archeologist official
Africa
Gaia Delpino, demoethnoanthropologist official
America
Francesca Manuela Anzelmo art historian official
Oceania
Maria Onori, art historian official
Asia (ex MNAO)
Laura Giuliano, archeologist official
Folk Art and Traditions
Francesca Romana Uccella, demoethnoanthropologist official
Early Middle-Ages
Stefano Pintor, archeologist official
Forner Colonial Museum collections
Rosa Anna Di Lella, demoethnoanthropologist official
Anthropology
Francesca Candilio, anthropologist official
Archeo-zoology
Francesca Alhaique, anthropologist official
Loan services
mu-civ.prestiti@cultura.gov.it
Manager for loans: the curators of the collections and their respective exhibitions
Contact person for documental collection and conservation activities
Serena Francone, conservation restorer official
Inventory and Catalogue service
Manager:
Daniele Rossetti, archeologist official
External catalog
Manager:
Laura Giuliano, archeologist official
Study and Research Service
Manager:
Paolo Boccuccia, archeologist official
Educational services
mu-civ.didattica@cultura.gov.it
Concessionaire Relations Manager: lawyer to the Director
Manager and Coordinator
Rosa Anna Di Lella, demoethnoanthropologist official
Prehistory
Paolo Boccuccia, archeologist official
Ethnography
Gaia Delpino, demoethnoanthropologist official
Physical anthropology
Francesca Candilio, anthropologist official
Alessandra Sperduti, anthropologist official
Archeo-zoology and Paleontology of the Quaternary Period
Francesca Alhaique, anthropologist official
Early Middle-Ages
Stefano Pintor, archeologist official
Folk Traditions
Maria Ludovica Piazzi, art historian official
DG-er and MIUR Projects
Sara Visco, administrative official
Training and Research
Alessandra Sperduti, anthropologist official
Accessibility
Laura Giuliano, archeologist official
Francesca Naldoni, demoethnoanthropologist official
Daniela Bordoni, AFAV (Visitor reception and supervision assistant)
Inter-culture
Francesca Manuela Anzelmo, art historian official
Francesca Naldoni, demoethnoanthropologist official
Gaia Delpino, demoethnoanthropologist official
Daniela Bordoni, AFAV (Visitor reception and supervision assistant)
Restoration
Giulia Cervi, conservation restorer official
Serena Francone, conservation restorer official
Alessandra Montedoro, conservation restorer official
Personnel assigned:
Achille Fiorillo, auxiliary services official
Internships
mu-civ.tirocini@cultura.gov.it
Manager
Serena Francone, restorer official
Photographic, historical-documentary, drawing and survey archival collections
Manager and Coordinator
Myriam Pierri, archeologist official
The contact persons for the sections below are as follows:
The Early Middle-Ages Collections historical archives.
Stefano Pintor, archeologist official
Audiovisual, historical-documental and photographic collections and Italian Ethnography Prints Section
Maria Ludovica Piazzi, art historian official
Archeological documentation, drawings and survey
Paolo Boccuccia, archeologist official
Former MNAO and IsMEO excavations documentation
Laura Giuliano, archeologist official
Photoreproduction service
Manager
Maria Onori, art historian official
Personnel assigned
Fabio Naccari, Technical Assistant
Digitalization
Manager
Myriam Pierri, archeologist official
Collaborator
Fabio Sacchi, Technical Assistant
Seizures and Protection of Collections
Manager
Stefano Pintor, archeologist official
Acquisitions and Donations
(to be appointed)
Libraries
mu-civ.biblioteca@cultura.gov.it
Manager and Coordinator
Francesca Candilio, anthropologist official
The contact persons for the sections below are as follows:
The Early Middle Ages Museum Library
Stefano Pintor, archeologist official
The Prehistoric Ethnographic Museum Library
Francesca Candilio, anthropologist official
The Oriental Art Museum Library
Laura Giuliano, archeologist official
Personnel assigned
Barbara Impiglia, administrative management assistant
Marco Russomanno, administrative management assistant
Science services and Workshops
Bio-archeology service
Manager
Alessandra Sperduti, anthropologist official
Manager of osteological human collections
Francesca Candilio, anthropologist official
Alessandra Sperduti, anthropologist official
Manager of osteological wildlife collections
Francesca Alhaique, anthropologist official
Michela Grimaldi, paleontologist official
Analytic Microscope Service
Manager
Francesca Alhaique, anthropologist official
Deputy Managers
Francesca Candilio, anthropologist official
Michela Grimaldi, paleontologist official
Palethnology laboratory
Manager
Paolo Boccuccia, archeologist official
Human resource administration, management, and finance
Coordinatore e Responsabile di Area
Antonietta Martinucci, segretario amministrativo
Contabilità
Accounting
+39 0654952253/344
mu-civ.contabile@cultura.gov.it – mu-civ.economato@cultura.gov.it
Area Manager and Coordinator
Antonietta Martinucci, administrative secretary
Manager and Coordinator of Accounting Area
Antonietta Martinucci, administrative official
Collaborators
Alessandra Della Longa, administrative management assistant
Giorgia Conti, administrative management assistant
Valentina Cirilli, administrative management assistant
Contracts and Calls for Tender
+39 0654952253
Managers
Giuseppe Ferraro, administrative management
Personnel assigned:
Valentina Cirilli, administrative management assistant
Prepares documentation for determination and assignment of contracts for works, services and supplies. Also responsible for CIG and CUP requests and keeping the register of suppliers.
Movable property delivery
Consignee
Alessandra Della Longa, Administrative management operator
Collaborates in the distribution of expendables, the loading and unloading of movable, durable, and mass consumer goods, and inventory reconnaissance
Accounting agent
Accounting agent
Alessandra Della Longa, administrative management assistant
Manager of seal for endorsement:
Antonietta Martinucci, administrative secretary
Focal Point, Protocol, Current Archives, and Documental Management
mu-civ.protocollo01@cultura.gov.it
Manager
Sara Visco, administrative official
Focal Point and GIADA services contact person. GIADA operative technical aspects contact person
Personnel assigned
Concetta Gaudino, administrative management assistant
Chiara Tarantola, technical assistant
Human Resource management
(+39 0654952340 – mu-civ.personale@cultura.gov.it)
Manager and Coordinator
Sara Visco, administrative official
Personnel assigned
Heleda Campi, administrative management assistant
Visitor reception and supervision
Manager
Director
Visitor reception and supervision
Roberta Ceccarelli (AFAV)
Chiara De Vita (AFAV)
Visitor reception and supervision:
Giancarlo Arena, Cinzia Bettarelli, Daniela Bordoni, Carla Bravi, Sabina Cappai, Stefano Caramelli, Pasquale Cardascia Ilaria Catarci, Roberta Ceccarelli , Francesca Cesari, Stefania Checchi, Fiorella Ciampa, Matteo Ciarapica, Eleonora Codagnone, Anna Cologgi, Antonio Cuozzo, Marco D’Elia, Chiara De Vita, Giancarlo Forti, Maurizio Gasparetti, Antonio Gaudino, Sergio Iacoboni, Francesca Ingrao, Alfredo Luzzi, Nadia Marchitiello, Amedeo Massaccesi, Francesca Massimiani, Carmelo Mazzotta, Cristiano Mengarelli, Carlo Mercadante, Giampaolo Moriconi, Alessia Pacces, Roberto Petrone, Andra Maria Popa, Ida Renda, Luciano Risi, Lucia Romei, Laura Sarno, Lucia Stanco, Antonella Torbidoni, Giancarla Torres, Cristiana Vicarini
Structures, layouts, maintenance and security
Maintenance, utilities, security and design service
lawyer to the Director
+39 0654952251 /254
Personnel assigned:
Luisa Grasso, architect official
Amedeo Abate, Technical Assistant
Vito Imparato, Technical Assistant
Enrico Tron, Technical Assistant
Roberto Binotti, Technical Assistant
IAN and RPV Information technology
Manager
(to be appointed)
Personnel assigned
Fabio Sacchi, Technical Assistant
Communication, marketing, fundraising, public relations and services, publishing
Managers
Rosa Anna Di Lella, demoethnoanthropologist official
Maria Onori, art historian official
Sara Visco, administrative official
Communication
mu-civ.comunicazione@cultura.gov.it
Contact person for relations with the press and media. Press Release issue
Maria Onori, art historian official
Personnel assigned
Elena Martinelli, administrative management assistant
Lara Facco Press & Communication (Lara Facco, Camilla Capponi, Marianita Santarossa, Ludovica Solari, Margherita Villani)
Working closely with the Museum’s science officers, the following human resources serve as members of the Editorial board for social media and the website.
Francesca Manuela Anzelmo, art historian official
Rosa Anna Di Lella, demoethnoanthropologist official
Alessandra Sperduti, anthropologist official
Science Editing
Manager
Laura Giuliano, archeologist official
Italian Palethnology Bulletin
Bulletin editor
Director
Italian Palethnology Bulletin Coordinator
Paolo Boccuccia, archeologist official
Italian Palethnology Bulletin Editorial Committee
Francesca Alhaique, anthropologist official
Francesca Candilio, anthropologist official
Gaia Delpino, demoethnoanthropologist official
Rosa Anna Di Lella, demoethnoanthropologist official
Alessandra Sperduti, anthropologist official
Marketing, Fundraising, and Art Bonus
mu-civ.artbonus@cultura.gov.it
Manager
Maria Onori, art historian official
Value enhancement
Manager and Coordinator
Francesca Manuela Anzelmo, art historian official
Public relations, reception service, public relations
mu-civ.info@cultura.gov.it
Coordinates the Museum’s reception and information system. Improves reception service and indicates critical issues and needs of the public to the Personnel Department
Public Relations Office
Manager:
Maria Onori, art historian official
Personnel assigned:
Ilaria Catarci, Visitor reception and supervision assistant
Nadia Marchitiello, Visitor reception and supervision assistant
CONCESSIONS OF USE, THIRD PARTIES, EVENTS
Manager
Sara Visco, administrative official
Personnel assigned
Chiara Tarantola, technical assistant
Cooperation agreements
Relations with other institutes and partners
In pursuing the objectives of safeguarding its tangible and intangible, natural and scientific cultural heritage while promoting study, research, training, popularization and inclusion in cultural activities, the Museum of Civilization maintains numerous agreements with other national and international bodies and institutes.
For the launching of collaboration projects:
Pathways for Transversal Skills and Orientation (PCTO)
Rossana Di Lella
Curricular training internships for undergraduate students
mu-civ.tirocini@cultura.gov.it
For all other cooperation agreements:
Gaia Delpino
Alessandra Sperduti