Another Triumph for Romanian Academy - new artists, new works, new approaches

[Note:  update on more "promenades" at end of this post.]

Get thee to the Romanian Academy (Accademia di Romania in Roma), by Friday, if you’re in Rome.  The current exhibit, Spazi Aperti X is the 10^th annual “open spaces” group exhibition the Academy has sponsored.  This year’s exhibition features 30 artists from a dozen academies and cultural institutes in Rome and has been given great reviews by art critics here, as it should.

Spazi Aperti closes this Friday at 7 p.m., with a finissage (we love the word – a take off on a “vernissage” – an opening event with extras).  The finissage will include music and sound performances from 7.30 p.m. to 12.30 a.m.   Besides the special events (see more below), the exhibition is open 4-6 p.m. Monday - Friday.

and you can too

go Kate!

in the Academy - collaboration of Marcel Saegesser
(Swiss Institute musician) and Claudia Zloteanu
(Romanian Academy)

Among our favorite works are the vinyl bubble in the outside courtyard by Ana Rewakowicz of Studio del Quebec a Roma.  You can help put it up and take it down (see photo) in the evening and several times during the finissage.  It needs to be protected at night and from winds that could blow it away.  We also were taken with the 2008 piece by American Kate Gilmore, who is physically kicking and poking herself out of a chimney-like box.  And I liked the rotting apples on the main floor.  And the artists at the Romanian Academy are great at using the Academy's more unusual spaces.

apples by Colin Darke, The British School

Today (Sunday, June 10) there’s a 6.30 p.m. performance and 7.30 video screening plus debate, and you can run across the street to The British School’s opening of the exhibit “Where you live now,” which is coordinated in times with the finissage.

Valerio, right, interviewing 2 artists and unidentified woman

We went to Saturday’s walk (“promenade”) in Villa Borghese with artist Valerio Rocco Orlando - most of it was in English because it involves artists from several academies.  Valerio is interviewing artists and questioning the role of the academy in today’s art milieu…more on that in a future post.  He’ll be doing a couple more walks this week.  When we get the details, we’ll post info on those as additions to this post; we highly recommend joining Valerio. [see end of post for update]

A dozen academies participated.  We don’t mean to be niggling, but where were the Americans?  Do they think they’re “above” group shows?  As we said, more on the whole academy experience in a later post. 

And kudos to curator Eleanora Farina.

More promenades - June 27 and 28, 5-7 p.m., meet Valerio at Piazza di Spagna in the Villa Borghese.  These are part of MAXXI's re-generation program. 

Dianne

Directions to the Romanian Academy: it’s in Valle Giulia on Piazza Jose’ de San Martin, just down the street from Rome’s modern Italian art museum (Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna – viale delle Belle Arti), at the back (north) of Villa Borghese.  You can walk there from Piazza del Popolo – through the Villa, or take Tram 3 to Piazza Thorwaldsen (end of the line).  In the later evening hours, the M bus gets you close.