Golf Bags and Blood Vats - Rome's Art Scene

Italy’s ability to put in contradistinction almost anything – art and labor, history and design, the repellant and the beautiful – never ceases to engage us.  And MACRO Testaccio – an evolving part of the city-sponsored contemporary art gallery - has always been one of our favorite Rome locales for these contexts. 

We recently marveled at the design winners in the show there that ends Sunday – the last 3 years GoldenCompass winners from the Association of Industrial Design in Italy.

Dental station

Everything from toilets to purses, bedroom lighting to sports equipment (the golf bag for my Dad), dental office equipment (right).  All is set in one of the largest buildings (La Pelanda) of this former slaughterhouse in the Testaccio neighborhood.  Even the blood-letting vats still stand – just a few steps from elegant dining room décor. 

And we like MACRO Testaccio’s hours – 4 p.m. to midnight (except Mondays), and the other art and performances there.  The evening we were at the “Made in Italy and National Identity” show we also saw a couple performance pieces by artists from the international group, “Black Market International”(as to what they meant, we’re have very few ideas, tho’ we tried – the accordion and the slowly moving bell that finally rings? The man wrapped up with little pieces of paper and string?). 

The bar at MACRO Testaccio is clearly becoming one of Rome’s hot spots.  And the woman in the see-through blouse just added to the atmosphere. 

MARCO Testaccio is open only when there’s a show, and the price can vary (the design show is Euro 4, but somehow we got in free).  Check out the current shows at their website (this is the English version).  Dianne