JUST AS GOOD AS YESTERDAY

Delve into Rome’s vibrant contemporary art scene and discover a flourishing but little publicised side of this multifaceted metropolis. Surprisingly enough, after 2,000 years, the Caput Mundi is still in tip-top shape and continues to win the audience’s applause for its cracking form within the competitive international arena of contemporary art. A thriving artistic centre that keeps inspiring and stimulating talent and originality, Rome has gained an indisputable reputation and competes with Western centres of excellence as a contemporary creative hub.

According to your interests and the events planned in town during your stay, your guide will tailor-make an appropriate itinerary. Highlights might include trendsetting commercial art galleries, temporary art exhibitions and one of the city’s three contemporary art museums. Upon request we may also arrange visits to artists’ studios and encounters with art dealers which will allow you to gain behind-the-scenes insight into the contemporary dynamics of Rome’s art world. Collectors willing to dabble in the art market will gain advice from experts. Street art lovers looking to venture further into the city’s suburbs and working-class neighbourhoods on a quest for murals and graffiti will find an innovative, thought-provoking scene. Send us your wish list and we’ll create your customised contemporary art tour.

Among the capital’s most cherished museums is the GNAM, the National Gallery of Modern Art, created in 1883 to house the collection of modern art belonging to the newly-established Italian State. The collection comprises over 4,000 paintings and sculptures and illustrates the development of local and international art from Neoclassicism to abstract and conceptual art of the 1960s. Representative works of Europe and USA’s major artistic movements, including Impressionism, Futurism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Action painting and Pop Art are permanently on display.

Art enthusiasts interested in the development of artistic expressions after 1960 might like to consider visiting one of the two collections of MACRO, Rome’s Museum of Contemporary Art, housed in two different premises: the old Peroni beer factory and a former slaughterhouse.

Lovers of architecture should not miss the MAXXI, an impressive 27,000 square meter gallery made of curving walls and flowing spaces in glass, steel and concrete, designed by world-famous Anglo-Iraqi genius Zaha Hadid. The Museum of the 21st Century Arts houses a collection of contemporary art and showcases exhibitions on architecture, photography, cinema and fashion.

Rome really is the Eternal City, isn’t it?