The interviews of ProfessioneArte.it

Interview with Elisabetta Galasso, CEO Open Care – ProfessioneARTE.it

Five questions to get a preview of the great art professionals, the daily challenges to be faced, the choices that have determined their path in the art system and market, the digital changes and the advice for those who want same career in collaboration with ProfessioneARTE.it.

Often one’s career path in the art world does not always begin in a completely “conventional” way, but it is more likely that to operate in the different sectors of art there is not a pre-established path.

This was the case for Elisabetta Galasso, the current Managing Director of Open Care, an all-Italian reality of excellence that works at an international level alongside Artists, Collectors, Museums and operators offering support for the conservation, management and enhancement of Art.

A company defined by Galasso itself as “atypical” because it is active across the board on several fronts and ready to accept the challenges of the future, including those of digital, which now more than ever has shaken the system and the art market.

In this interview Elisabetta Galasso lucidly presents the challenges of the sector, in favour of a necessary reflection on the real needs of art and its professionals for the present and the future.

Elisabetta Galasso as Managing Director directs Open Care – Servizi per l’Arte.

After studying aesthetics and linguistics, she has collaborated with numerous institutions in Italy and abroad in training, communication and international cooperation projects, editing publications on Southeast Asia and on intercultural and gender issues. Director from 2004 to 2012 of NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano and founding member of DeriveApprodi and Art for the World Europe.

Open Care, heir to the historic Frigoriferi Milanesi, is the only company in Italy to offer integrated services for art collection management: conservation, management and enhancement of works and art collections. It has vaults, exhibition spaces and laboratories for the restoration of works of any nature, technique and period and a network of consultants for expertise, asset evaluation and assistance in buying and selling.

It represents a unique reference point for individuals and institutions who care about the care and enhancement of works of art and collections. It has facilities equipped with the best technologies and specialized internal staff for tailor made services.

1. How did your path in the art world begin?

In an unconventional way. I got into Art starting from training, but it was like closing a circle, I graduated in Aesthetics, but life had taken me in other directions.

2.How would you describe your profession today?

I work for a company that is somewhat atypical, as it is active in a variety of specialist fields for which I do not think I represent a specific profession.

Logistics, conservation and consulting, areas we deal with, in fact, share the same object of art, but require distinct and diversified skills. The most interesting part of my work consists in the analysis and development of projects that allow Open Care to keep pace with the needs of private and institutional collecting together with the changes in the sector.

3. How has your profession changed over time?

Each of the areas in which we operate has changed over time, even though the art world is not prone to the new and collecting has not changed its rituals and rules.

We are certainly confronted with greater complexity, a consequence of a growing codification of processes that were previously informal.

On the other hand, this has some positive aspects for those who work according to the rules. New players are emerging, but the internationalisation, which is substantially changing the art market, has a less evident impact in the field of services, as these are carried out, like care activities, often in close proximity.

4. What impact is digital having on your sector?

It is still difficult to evaluate it, it is in fact a transformation in progress.

There is currently a great ferment, but not all that glitters is gold. Certainly part of this dynamism is due to the favourable conditions that start-ups enjoy and the expectations that they are able to generate.

At the same time, there are real needs for data storage, sharing and processing to which digital can provide answers and I am confident that thanks to it we will work more efficiently and transparently.

5. What would you suggest to someone who want to undertake your path?

Ours is a sector that inspires great passions, but job opportunities are limited. Those who work there, particularly in Italy, are not paid as much as they deserve and it takes a lot of determination and a bit of pragmatism to make it a real profession. Experience counts for a great deal and skills are acquired in the field, so it is crucial to be able to recognise the situations that allow you to acquire them.

Open Care is part of the community of professionials of the Art Concierge of Art Rights

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