Rome: Five Must-See Exhibitions

This week, Rome is the city of unmissable exhibitions: from drawing to photography to video art. There’s truly something for everyone, and we’re here to tell you all about it.

Disney. The Art of Telling Timeless Stories at Palazzo Barberini until September 25

Palazzo Barberini, in Rome, hosts “Disney. The Art of Telling Timeless Stories” curated by the Walt Disney Animation Research Library, in collaboration with Federico Fiecconi, historian and critic of comics and animated cinema.

There is Walt Disney, pioneer of “once upon a time,” who has accompanied entire generations of children. With his creativity, he created cartoons such as Snow White, the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio and Fantasia. 

“Disney. The Art of Telling Timeless Stories” includes original works from the Disney Archives: ranging from the most famous films like Hercules or The Little Mermaid, to the latest generation films like Frozen 2 – The Secret of Arendelle. 

The exhibition, thanks to its pathway with a triple key of interpretation, guides the visitor through the masterpieces of Walt Disney, also explaining the myths, medieval legends, folklore, fables, and fairy tales that are the foundation of creative inspiration.

These are indeed the thematic sections of the exhibition, where preparatory sketches are also displayed, showcasing the study of characters, settings, and narrative plots.

Jago at Palazzo Bonaparte until July 3rd

Palazzo Bonaparte in Rome hosts Jago from March 12th to July 3rd, 2022.

The exhibition, curated by Professor Maria Teresa Benedetti, is dedicated to the Italian artist.

Jago, the pseudonym of Jacopo Cardillo, born in 1987, is internationally known as The Social Artist for his innate communicative abilities and the great success he enjoys on social media.

The artist is a star, especially among the younger generation, who follow him with sincere admiration thanks to live streaming and the photo and video material that narrates the process of creating each of his works, making the spectators participants.

Jago exhibits all his works at Palazzo Bonaparte: from the small sculpted river stones (from Memoria di Sé to Excalibur), to monumental sculptures like the Pietà, including the more media-centric works such as the Pope (Habemus Hominem).

Daido Moriyama with Shomei Tomatsu Tokyo Revisited at the MAXXI Museum until October 16

Daido Moriyama and his mentor Shomei Tomatsu, who passed away in 2012, are considered the leading figures in Japanese street photography. Until October 16, they are at the MAXXI with the exhibition Tokyo Revisited.

The protagonist of the exhibition is indeed Tokyo, one of the most fascinating cosmopolitan cities in the world and an inexhaustible source of artistic inspiration. Daido Moriyama and Shomei Tomatsu capture fragments of the post-war Japanese society and its subsequent evolution in the following period. 

Tomatsu actively works to capture socially and politically engaging scenes. Moriyama, on the other hand, delves into the joy and excitement produced by consumer society. 

During the exhibition, visitors are invited to “revisit” Tokyo physically, connecting it with the Roman reality: a city balancing between the eternal negotiation with its historical ruins and futuristic projections for tomorrow.

Crazy. Madness in Contemporary Art at the Chiostro del Bramante until January 8, 2023

CRAZY. Madness in Contemporary Art, a project by Dart – Chiostro del Bramante curated by Danilo Eccher, is at the Chiostro del Bramante until January 8, 2023.

There are as many as 11 site-specific installations by 21 internationally renowned artists that invade the external and internal spaces of the Chiostro del Bramante in Rome.

The perception of the world is the first signal of instability, the first contact between external reality and the brain, between physical truth and poetic creativity, between optical laws and neurological disturbances.

There is no ordinary path to experience the exhibition which, like a violent and colorful shockwave, invades every accessible room of the Chiostro. 

Everything is summed up in a complex, subjective, oblique narrative; an inclusive and participatory atmosphere; a distribution of works and isolated, autonomous spaces in all available locations, even invading areas usually excluded from the routes.

Among the exhibited artists, we find Carlos Amorales, Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir / Shoplifter, Massimo Bartolini, Gianni Colombo, Petah Coyne, Ian Davenport, Janet Echelman, Fallen Fruit / David Allen Burns and Austin Young, Lucio Fontana, Anne Hardy, Thomas Hirschhorn, Alfredo Jaar, Alfredo Pirri, Gianni Politi, Tobias Rehberger, Anri Sala, Yinka Shonibare, Sissi, Max Streicher, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Sun Yuan & Peng Yu.

Bill Viola. Icon of light at Palazzo Bonaparte until June 26 

BILL VIOLA. Icons of light is the exhibition on view in Rome at Palazzo Bonaparte, dedicated to the greatest video art artist of the 70s, Bill Viola.  

Palazzo Bonaparte, which was the residence of Madame Letizia Ramolino Bonaparte, mother of Napoleon, serves as the backdrop for the works of Viola, including Ascension (2000) and the famous Water Portraits (2015).

Icons of light, curated by Kira Perov, is designed as an emotional journey featuring 10 works by Bill Viola and represents a moment of reflection on the conceptual hyperbole of the American artist, who creates works addressing the life/death dichotomy and is inextricably linked by the contrasts between East and West. 

An emblematic exhibition synthesizing the work of Viola and the historical development of video art: through the most well-known video installations and projections, the retrospective narrates what can be defined as the artist’s most intimate and spiritual journeys through the electronic medium.