Financial measures to support arts & culture during the coronavirus in Italy 2020

Between March and June 2020, the Italian government imposed a national lockdown by restricting people's movements to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Thus, museums and cinemas closed and all cultural events were either cancelled or rescheduled. The arts and cultural sector was significantly hit by this emergency. For instance, it was estimated that the live music sector in Italy is expected to lose about 350 million euros until the end of the summer 2020. In order to support the cultural sector during this emergency, the Italian government adopted a series of financial measures. In this sense, the government implemented an emergency fund of 210 million euros to support publishing, cancelled cultural events, and museums. Overall, the government implemented three main emergency funds which in total amounted to roughly 555 million euros. Apart from these main measures, most self-employed workers in Italy received a monthly fund of 600 euros between March and May 2020.