Uffizi, Last Generation activists attach flyers on 'Spring'

The images of the Campi Bisenzio flood have covered Sandro Botticelli's masterpiece

ROME – New action by 'Last generation' environmental activists in Florence. This time they posted flyers on Sandro Botticelli's 'Primavera'. Flyers with images of the flood on them Campi Bisenzio, to raise political awareness of the ever-increasing risks of extreme meteorological events.The activists made it known that, among the public visiting the Uffizi, there are those who have established a dialogue with them and those who, instead, have spat on them.

“Today, at 12.25pm, five people adhering to the Ultima Generation 'Reparation Fund' campaign carried out a non-violent civil disobedience action at the Uffizi Museum in Florence. They attached leaflets with images of the Campi Bisenzio flood to the protective glass of Botticelli's 'Spring' and to the adjacent wall, and unrolled the banner with the words 'Repair Fund', distributing leaflets among the visitors.A discussion also began with the audience present, some applauded and one spat on two Last Generation citizens.Then museum staff turned off the lights in the room, and at 12.33 the police arrived and made the visitors leave the room."Mida, 27 years old and scout leader declared during the action:“We decided to return to the Uffizi and put up some flyers about Botticelli's spring, because we believe that in a world where there is an ongoing social and climate crisis, art must represent reality and what is happening.Do we want to carry on like this in silence and indifference?We want to launch an appeal for there to be a Spring of Fire, in which people truly realize and awaken."

Last Generation underlines:“We returned to the Uffizi to attach the photos of the Campi Bisenzio flood, because the government continues to ignore the inevitable danger, between floods, drought and heat that Italian citizens risk in the coming months. Choosing to make a small gesture such as placing a photo with scotch tape on a painting is a simple action that allows people to powerfully express their dissent and helps to give voice to the populations affected by floods, who are forgotten and remain unheard by the government .We are back in action despite the Ecoproteste law, because we know that it is necessary to take to the streets, in the squares, in the museums to shout about the urgency of a crisis that will not stop by blocking those who point the finger at the problem and indicate the way towards a more Right.When will we realize that our freedom is being eroded day by day?”.
“Meloni and his government - says Ultima Generazione - continue to defend the violence of the police unleashed against the voices and bodies of politically active minors, and is clearly disintegrating the foundations of our democracy. Mattarella's intervention, after the events in Pisa, demonstrates the seriousness of the situation, And Meloni's words are intended to make the use of force against students legitimate, through the instrumental reinterpretation of the events in Pisa.In his speech, which took place only before leaving Canada for Italy, avoiding the press conference after the summit with Biden, he did so by shifting the public's emotional attention to the difficulties of agents in other situations, declaring that 'no one told thank them', instead of expressing themselves on the events in Pisa.The government majority approved the Ecoproteste law, which resulted in a total fine of 60,000 euros for the three demonstrators who on 13 February attached the same photos of the flood in Campi on Botticelli's Venus, symbol of a beauty that we are risking losing due to the inaction of governments.The diversified oppression between physical violence and abuse of the judicial system, suffered by resistance groups such as the pro-peace students in the Middle East or Last Generation, is proof of the fear of our political representatives in the face of an active citizenry.A healthy democracy is nourished by dissent, not trampled upon.The indifference on the one hand, and the inability of our politicians on the other, demonstrates that the model of representative democracy is not serving the needs of citizens.We ask for a democracy that knows how to welcome, value and implement citizens' opinions."In the end:“Our request is for a preventative, permanent and participatory Reparation Fund to be included annually in the State budget.The money will have to be obtained through the elimination of Environmentally Harmful Subsidies (SAD), the taxation of extra-profits of fossil fuel companies, the cutting of salaries, bonuses and benefits of their managers, the enormous expenses of politics and the increasingly huge military expenses . This is why we will continue to take to the streets, carry out actions of non-violent civil disobedience, taking responsibility for our actions, facing repression, courts and trials“.