Culture, international cooperation protocol between the Municipalities of Rome and Manhattan in New York

The initiatives of the agreement include forms of collaboration between museums, archives, libraries, universities, cultural institutions and educational institutions of the two territories, promoting cultural exchanges, artistic initiatives, programs aimed at young people and public art projects. The signing took place as part of the ‘Forum Cultura Roma Centro’ which represents one of the most important institutional initiatives dedicated to the topic of urban-territorial cultural governance promoted in recent years in Rome. ”It is an honor for us to participate in this new agreement on culture, public responsibility and the future of great historic cities. New York City and Rome are two of the most iconic cities in the world, they are places of creativity, diversity and civic energy. They belong to their citizens but also to the global imagination. They share something profound, they are not just administrative districts, they are living historical centres. Every street, every square, every building carries stories of the past while hosting the life of the present,” said Zohran Mamdani the mayor of New York City in a video message that opened the Forum.

”This partnership recognizes that the two historic centers must not become museums in themselves but must remain vibrant, inclusive places inhabited by their residents. In New York City, we know that culture is infrastructure, supporting education, strengthening community, fueling the economy, and creating a sense of belonging. I know that Rome can understand this deeply. With this agreement we open a path of cooperation between two extraordinary urban centers. In a period in which the world often feels divided, relationships between cities become bridges of hope and intelligence. May this be just the beginning of a long friendship”.

”With this agreement, Municipality I takes a profoundly innovative step: for the first time the two most iconic cities in the world choose to dialogue through their historic centers not only on a symbolic level, but through true cultural cooperation between institutions, museums, archives, libraries, schools and civic communities – declared Giulia Silvia Ghia, Councilor for Culture of Municipality I, organizer of the ‘Forum Cultura Roma Centro’ – This project arises from a precise belief: historic cities cannot limit themselves to preserve the past, but must produce contemporaneity, imagination and international relations. We built this Protocol because we believe that culture is not an ancillary sector of administrations, but a strategic infrastructure. The center of Rome must go back to thinking of itself not only as a place that preserves its greatness, but as a territory that exercises it”.