Italian museums to close Nov 12 over budget cuts

ROME (Reuters Life!) - Italian museums, archaeological sites, public libraries and theatres will shut down on November 12 in a nationwide protest against government funding cuts to cultural events.

Organizers of the protest said on Thursday an austerity budget passed by parliament this summer cut arts and cultural funds by 58 million euros ($82.02 million) annually in 2011 and 2012.

The latest cuts add to a string of drastic reductions for the arts and tighter funds for local authorities in recent years, which lumped all together mean that the sector will lose around 1.1 billion euros over the next two years, they said.

Museums, monuments and other sites adhering to the initiative, called "Closed doors, spotlight on culture" will either close or protest in other ways.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)