Giuli hosts G7 Culture Summit in Naples.

Italy's new culture minister Alessandro Giuli will host the Group of Seven (G7) Culture Summit in Naples on Friday and Saturday, with events scheduled to take place in nearby Pompeii.

After the first day of the summit at the Royal Palace of Naples, G7 delegations will visit Pompeii excavations on Friday evening, guided the archaeological park's director Gabriel Zuchtriegel.

To mark the occasion Pompeii will host a concert by the Nuova Orchestra Scarlatti, led by conductor and culture ministry advisor Beatrice Venezi, in the ancient amphitheatre.

There will also be a performance by tenor Andrea Bocelli and soprano Carmen Giannattasio, the culture ministry confirmed, before a gala dinner at the Palestra Grande.

Security will be tight at Pompeii which will close to the public at 17.00 on Friday (last entry at 15.30), with access limited to only the Piazza Esedra and Porta Marina entrances, the archeological park said in a statement.

Il Ministro della Cultura, Alessandro Giuli, ha accolto al @MANNapoli le delegazioni che parteciperanno ai lavori del G7 Cultura in programma a Palazzo Reale da domani a sabato.

Scopri di più: https://t.co/uskr6AvGHs pic.twitter.com/aGO7obSvfi

— Ministero della Cultura (@MiC_Italia) September 19, 2024

The high-level summit, organised as part of Italy's G7 presidency, will bring together culture ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US.

The opening of the meeting on Friday will also be attended by Ukraine culture minister Mikola Tochytskyi.

Topics up for discussion at the summit include "support for Ukraine for the protection and reconstruction of its cultural heritage, the impact of artificial intelligence on the creative industries, the fight against illicit trafficking of works of art, and the management of the effects of climate change on cultural heritage", the Italian culture ministry said in a statement.

On Thursday, ahead of the summit, the G7 delegations visited the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN) and attended a performance by young artists from the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella.

The G7 summit is the first major test for Giuli, who two weeks ago replaced Gennaro Sangiuliano after the latter resigned amid a scandal over an unpaid advisor role for his alleged former mistress.

Central to the controversy were claims that the disputed consultant, Maria Rosaria Boccia, had access to classified information relating to the organisation of G7 events at Pompeii. The claims were denied by Sangiuliano.