Unfortunately, I did not have the creativity or courage of 64-year-old Paduan Maurizio Cattelan, a famous serial provocateur as an artist who managed to sell a banana hung on the wall with a ribbon for 6.2 million dollars at auction (photo below). Otherwise, we could all easily become millionaires when we look inside the fruit basket at home (photo below).

Crazy spending in a city with 5 billion public debt

But at least Justin Sun, 34, the wealthy Chinese founder of cryptocurrency platform Tron, had the decency to use his own money to buy the certificate that allows him to stick any banana on a wall and name it the Comedian. The opera market of New York’s richest Paduan immigrant. Instead, I would like to talk about the equally expensive work of Gaetano Manfredi, mayor of the center-left Pd-5Stelle-civil lists, who had Pulcinella’s “banana” planted in the center using 200 thousand euros of public money. Naples square (photo above, near the title). They called it “Tu si ‘na cosa grande.” If they had dared a little more, they could have called it “tu si ‘na cosa glans”.

The issue concerns us closely because at the beginning of 2022 the Municipality of Naples declared a bankruptcy gap of 5 billion between deficit and debt: 5334 euros per capita. Money that Italian taxpayers are periodically asked to replenish with emergency measures. The latest plan launched by Mario Draghi’s government to prevent disruptions and therefore social chaos cost 1.3 billion dollars, which the state allocated on a non-refundable basis. There is also another insult to many creditors: Because they will lose 60 percent of their loans in the grave purchase plan approved to save the municipality. Except Cattelan’s banana.

So what is the city’s responsibility in all this? For example, it was calculated that only 2 percent of the fines imposed by the local police were collected, creating a non-payment gap of 830 million. Another 260 million lira will not be lost due to non-collection of rent in municipality-owned houses and properties. And so on.

Thus, the Municipality survives with state aid.

It will make your head spin to read in NapoliToday that the installation dedicated to Pulcinella should cost taxpayers a total of 224 thousand euros (including installation, supervision and opening performance). And not only that. They presented it to us as the work of sculpture designer Gaetano Pesce, who passed away on April 3, 2024. You can see the model of his very delicate project inspired by the character of Naples at the bottom of this article. Compare this to the image of the work next to its title.

But the official records of the municipality do not tell us why all of Pulcinella’s noble parts, from his hat to his mask to the pristine white of his robe, were chosen to represent his most secret anatomy. 12 meters height. Mayor Manfredi, who probably hasn’t committed to controlling how the city’s money is spent, also admitted as much: “I thought about what everyone was thinking too” (the original model of Gaetano Pesce’s work in the photo below is dedicated to Pulcinella).

And the mayor has a personal advisor on contemporary art

Vincenzo Trione, the mayor’s personal advisor for contemporary art (a role that, even if it is carried out unpaid, is sorely lacking among the municipality’s numerous staff), closes the question with: “We can say that Naples is the only city that invests in free contemporary art”. Of course, it’s free: In fact, the debts are paid by the state. And Gaetano Pesce’s curator, Silvana Annichiarico, defended the anatomical result that we all saw: “The important thing is that we talk about it,” she said. thanks.

We learn more from an interview Silvana Annichiarico gave to Repubblica in 2023. Could you tell us an anecdote about one of your most successful exhibitions? Here is his answer: “The exhibition Kama, Sex&Design, which I curated at the Milan Triennale in 2013: explored the surprising array of objects that have properties that mimic or imply both the sexual organs of the human body and erotic practices and entanglements.” At this point, dear Mayor Manfredi, we take the liberty of making a free suggestion: Next time you hire the same team of consultants, instead of using public money, try having them sponsor a sex shop.

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