how to
work in the arts sector in italy
BY: olivia brookhouse
Interviews of students with first hand experience
WHY
For an opportunity to go outside of her comfort zone and
to learn Italian before studying the language at university.
How: Online application followed by interviews in Florence.
The job cataloguing Luciano Caruso’s art and at the Archivio del
Capitolo di San Lorenzo also led to lessons at the Archiving School
of the Archivio di Stato di Firenze.
WHAT
The Archive of literary figure Luciano Caruso’s art work and correspondence
This involved cataloguing all of the contents by checking the current location of the
work and whether or not it has been loaned to another archive, museum or gallery.
Archivio del Capitolo di San Lorenzo, an ecclesiastical archive
This job was quite high pressure as Marianthi was trusted to handle classical manuscripts, significant letters and very heavy codices.
Lessons at the Archivio di Stato Firenze, the state archive
This involved transcribing ecclesiastical Latin and different scripts which proved to
be initially challenging with only a GCSE in Latin.
LIVING IN ITALY: FLORENCE
Marianthi found a place online for ten days staying with two Italian ladies. They then helped find a homestay with another Italian lady and her three dogs. This was in the historical centre of Florence, in the quarter of Santa Croce. The two grew very close and are still in contact with each other. The only drawback was that the centre of Florence is very touristy with a lot of movement of people due to the takeover of AirBnB. The Italians themselves live more in the suburbs, however living in the centre was very convenient for work.
THE CHALLENGE
Working in Florence for six months was Marianthi’s first experience with both finding somewhere to live and being away from home for a long period of time. There was also a sharp linguistic learning curve as she had A-Level Spanish but no knowledge of Italian. The working day was also quite long, being 08:00 to 19:30 some days. This luckily included lunch and plenty of coffee breaks. The work itself was demanding and
involved adapting to different systems and proficiency in Latin and Italian.
BEST PART ABOUT THE WORK
These months of work gave an insight into what goes on behind-the-scenes of Italian museums and galleries; Marianthi got the opportunity to see a lot of pieces that were not accessible to the public. It was also rewarding to be given the responsibility of handling very old and important material.
Marianthi’s advice:
Sometimes it is down to luck: Marianthi’s boss at the Archivio del Capitolo di San Lorenzo led her to the Archivio Statale. Be aware that nearly all opportunities like this are unpaid.
Be able to adapt: you may initially feel out of your depth with colleagues that are more qualified, and the working environment can be quite lonely as they are all much older than you. It is not for everyone but if you are passionate and take the initiative, it is very interesting work. Find what you want to do and pursue it: you cannot find everything online. Go to a place physically and talk to people even if you don’t speak the language.
Step out on your own and away from your comfort zone: this is when you will get the most out of any experience.
sga
Marianthi Baklava
Role: Working in historical and modern archives
Length of time: six months
Where: Florence