FOROF. Episodes

The new exhibition space promoted by Giovanna Caruso Fendi opens with a series of EPISODES: multi-sensorial and multi-disciplinary events that involve the public in immersive and exciting performances.

The new artistic and cultural reality supported by Giovanna Caruso Fendi opens its doors in the historical spaces of Palazzo Roccagiovine in the ancient Foro Traiano in Rome, inaugurating its artistic programme on 2 February with five multi-sensorial and multi-disciplinary episodes, on a monthly basis. Performances involving different artists and the public, real installations that become an immersive scenario of music, words and art. The episodes are accompanied by a food and wine selection curated by Roscioli, in dialogue with the artists.

Contemporary art and experimentation come to life among the archaeological ruins, making Giovanna Caruso Fendi one of the first bearers on the Roman art scene of the combination of contemporary art and archaeology as a stimulus for culture. Inside the exhibition spaces, one can admire the ruins of the ancient apse of the Basilica Ulpia in relation to the contemporary art works of the temporary exhibitions.

Rome has always attracted artists, writers and intellectuals from all over the world, exerting a mysterious fascination on them. Even today, contemporary artistic production in the city is constantly confronted with history and antiquity. Today FOROF not only offers artists the opportunity to measure themselves against an extraordinary heritage, but also wants to be a responsible and transparent way of giving back to the community, through contemporary reading, the experience of a unique place. This is the main reason why FOROF is not a foundation but a Benefit Society whose corporate purpose is to have a positive impact on society. (Giovanna Caruso Fendi, Arte.it)

The programming of the new exhibition space envisages two exhibitions a year, each lasting about five months, in which educational and performance activities and both Italian and international artists who have emerged for their ability to relate to the space and the natural context in which they work are perfectly integrated. The environmental installations dialogue with the archaeological remains, intoxicated by the episodes of readings, talks, music and performances, in which the spectator is invited to actively participate, becoming the protagonist himself.

The first production, entitled LOVOTIC, is a Soundwalk Collective music video installation, which explores the possibility of emotional, sexual and love relationships between human beings and robot-machines. The artists invite us to reflect on impulses, ideas and needs, trying to peer into the future as if it were a booming kaleidoscope in which sex, intimacy and desire are reworked.

The LOVOTIC series opens with Episode 1 by Thomas Doxiadis: a retrospective of sexual evolution from fungi to robots. Fungi are in fact not simple life forms, but have a high diversity and generally involve confusion with reproductive systems, dynamic metabolism, adaptability and behavioural strategies. Doxiadis presents a glimpse into the tree of life and its intricate relationships.

This is followed by Episode 2 of Agnes Question Mark, Fantasies of the Sea, an immersive journey about existence on Earth and its relationship with the sea. Episode 3 starring Charlotte Gainsbourg in conversation with Massimo Torrigiani who discusses the statistical analysis of the word Lovotic, a combination of the words love, lover, beloved, lovability, lovesick, loveless, loveless. Episode 4 with InvernoMuto approaches the Mediterranean soundscape from a scientific perspective, combining field recordings and obscure fluid experiments in electronic music.

Closing FOFOF's opening series is Episode 5, a live performance inspired by the latest album, Water, by American electronic artist Lotic, a singing rendition that awakens a post-anthropogenic earth where new creatures have adapted to live on a planet completely consumed under water.

Photos from https://www.facebook.com/forof.roma