( CNN ) -- A museum in Italy is burning artworks from around the world to protest harsh austerity cuts by the Italian government . Antonio Manfredi , director of the Casoria Contemporary Art Museum in Naples , kicked off the protest this week by setting fire to a painting by French artist Severine Bourguignon . Manfredi says the museum will burn three artworks each week as part of its `` Art War '' campaign . `` I have 1,000 artworks from artists around the world , and they 're already facing destruction due to the indifference of the government , '' he told CNN . `` We want the government to pay attention to the country 's cultural institutions . '' In the face of mounting debt problems , Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has enacted tough austerity measures in an attempt to keep the country from defaulting . Manfredi says those cuts have hit cultural institutions hard , and that a handful of museums in Rome , Palermo and elsewhere have closed in recent months due to lack of funding . The museum is only burning works with the blessing of their artists . Bourguignon watched the burning of her painting via Skype , Manfredi says , and artist Rosaria Matarese from Naples torched her wood sculpture in person at the museum on Wednesday . Other European artists are joining the protest -- Welsh sculptor John Brown burned one of his artworks on YouTube , and Manfredi says other artists will light up their artworks via Skype next week . `` Next week the first one is an artist from Austria , '' he told CNN . `` I hope that the government stops me because this is terrible what I 'm doing . '' While Manfredi has never received government funding for his museum , he says he wants the government to come to Naples `` just to see how difficult it is to be a museum here with no money . '' Manfredi says the government has yet to respond to his protest , and says he wo n't stop until they answer .
Italian government to burn 3 artworks a day to protest budget cuts . First artwork was burned by French artist Jean Bourguignon . Artists from around Europe join ` ` Art Fair '' ' .