Italy's streaming platform for Italian culture will be called .ITsART.

The logo and name of Italy's ambititious project to create the "Netflix of Italian Culture" has been unveiled, reports online art newspaper Artribune.

The online streaming platform giving paid access to Italian culture, from art and music to dance and theatre, will be called ITsART and the logo takes its colours from Italy's tricolour.

The ITsART company behind the project is owned by Italy's investment bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), which owns 51 per cent, and Chili, the Milan-based firm that has been distributing films and television series in Italy via the internet since 2012, which owns 49 per cent.

• Italy steps closer to creating 'Netflix of Italian culture'

The culture ministry, acting as director of the project, has allocated €10 million for ITsART from the nation's Recovery Fund, with a further €9 million to come from CDP, reports Artribune.

The streaming platform, first announced by culture minister Dario Franceschini during Italy's covid-19 lockdown last spring, will be accessible from the website www.itsart.tv, currently under construction.

"ITsART," reads the only page available on the site, "is the new virtual stage for theatre, music, cinema, dance and all forms of art, live and on-demand, with content available in Italy and abroad: a platform that bridges cities of art and quaint villages, goes backstage and into museums to celebrate and reveal Italian cultural heritage in all its forms and offer it to audiences all over the world."

• Italy to create 'Netflix of Italian culture'

There has been some criticism of the project's allegedly "weak" logo and its English name, as well as the fact that the state broadcaster RAI already has a video streaming platform, Rai Play, which contains many programmes dedicated to culture, according to Artribune.

As to what we can expect from the new service and its costs for viewers, there are now announcements on that front, however the official launch will reportedly be "in the first months of 2021."