Roma renovatio: with a burst of museum construction, gallery inaugurations and government initiatives, the Eternal City makes its bid to become—once again—Italy's principal hub for contemporary art - Report From Italy

Art in America, June, 2003 by Shara Wasserman

During the summers of 1998, 1999 and 2000, while under the direction of Bruno Racine (now the president of the Centre Pompidou), the French Academy opened the Villa Medici and its gardens to a renewed contemporary art program with a cycle of exhibitions called "La Ville, la Memoire, le Jardin," curated by Laurence Bosse, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Hans-Ulrich Obrist. A high-profile addition to the contemporary program, "Tutto Normale," was organized in 2002 by Jerome Sans, co-director of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, and Ludovico Pratesi, the Roman critic and director of the "Pescheria," a visual arts center in Pesaro. The invited artists, who worked on-site, included Italians Paolo Canevari, Mimmo Paladino, Penone, Pivi and Corrado Sassi, along with Georgina Stair (England), Pascale Marthine Tayou (Africa), Wang Du (China, based in Paris), Quisqeya Enriques (South America) and Surasi Kusolwong (Thailand). Richard Peduzzi, the recently appointed director, has expressed his commitment to keeping the new within the purview of the French Academy.

The contemporary arts program of the British School at Rome was instituted in 1991 by director Richard Hodges, an archeologist sensitive to the subject. Marina Engels curated an exhibition program of nonresident English artists, installing shows in a small ground-floor space. Now, a decade later, a major restoration is providing a multimedia theater, a larger library and an expanded exhibition space. Innovative programming by current curator Perrella has included "Heavenly Creatures," last fall's two-work "confrontation" between painter Paula Rego and sculptor Ron Mueck (Rego's son-in-law). In particular, Perrella has worked to promote video art, organizing anthologies such as "Sweetie: Female Identity in British Video" as well as a three-evening showing last January of controversial video artist Chris Cunningham.

Periodically the British School produces special projects. These have included the video Threshold to the Kingdom of Mark Wallinger, formerly a fellow at the British School, which previewed in Rome before being presented in the British Pavilion at the 2001 Venice Biennale, and "Be Muse," the first one-person exhibition in Italy of Yinka Shonibare, which was installed from Dec. 5, 2001 to Mar. 3, 2002 at the nearby Museo Hendrik C. Andersen (studio and home of the Norwegian-American sculptor, built in the 1920s and today a public space administered by GNAM). Scheduled for June 2003 is a project by Martin Creed for the facade of the British School.

As the institutional presence evolves, Rome's commercial sector is expanding. During the past several months, numerous galleries have sprung up across the city. Dealers from abroad are showing an interest in exhibiting in Rome, and several Italian dealers have opened larger spaces. More attention is being paid to foreign and young Italian artists. Much of the action is in Trastevere, where new spaces join a number of contemporary galleries already in the area: Volume!, which exhibits international figures as well as Italy's better-known young and midcareer artists; 2RC, which principally shows prints, photography and multimedia works; Stefania Miscetti; and Galleria S.A.L.E.S., where the primary focus is on established Italian and international artists ranging in age from about 35 to 40.