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Italian museums giving Sunday proceeds to rebuild quake zone

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson
A 2008 photo of the town center in Amatrice, one of several Italian towns that suffered catastrophic damage from the earthquake. Photo by Mario1952, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
A 2008 photo of the town center in Amatrice, one of several Italian towns that suffered catastrophic damage from the earthquake. Photo by Mario1952, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

 

ROME (AP) – Italy’s state museums are donating their proceeds from yesterday, Aug. 28, to relief and reconstruction efforts in the area devastated by an earthquake.

The 6.2 magnitude quake on Wednesday flattened three medieval towns in central Italy, destroying not only private homes but also churches and other centuries-old cultural treasures.

The idea is to use art for art — harnessing the nation’s rich artistic heritage to help recover and restore other objects of beauty in the towns flattened by the tremor.

Culture Minster Dario Franceschini appealed to Italians to “go to museums in a sign of solidarity with people affected by the earthquake.” The appeal on Twitter is at (hash)museums4italy.

It’s one of several efforts that have sprung up to help the towns rebuild.

The pre-dawn earthquake killed 291 people and injured hundreds.

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Italian museums