Festival of Foreign Academies and Cultural Institutes in Rome Sublime cliché.
The exhibition has the support of the Department of Culture of Roma Capitale and Azienda Speciale Palaexpo, and it has been organized by Azienda Speciale Palaexpo with the collaboration of the foreign academies and cultural institutes in Rome.
Artists in the exhibition: Terry Adkins (American Academy in Rome fellow, 2009–2010), Iván Argote (French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici fellow, 2021–2022), Joel Blanco (Real Academia de España en Roma, 2024–2025), Bianca Bondi (French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici fellow, 2024–2025), Matthew Connors (American Academy in Rome fellow, 2024–2025), Rebecca Digne (French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici fellow, 2018–2019), Esra Ersen (German Academy Rome – Villa Massimo fellow, 2019–2020), Jenny Holzer (American Academy in Rome fellow, 2003–2004), Christoph Keller (German Academy Rome – Villa Massimo fellow, 2017–2018), Evangelia Kranioti (French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici fellow, 2021–2022), Hunter Longe (Swiss Institute fellow, 2024–2025), Charles Mazé & Coline Sunier (French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici fellows, 2014–2015), Julian Rosefeldt (German Academy Rome – Villa Massimo fellow, 2018–2019), Ruaidhri Ryan (The British School at Rome fellow, 2021), Giovanna Silva (American Academy in Rome fellow, 2019–2020), Hayahisa Tomiyasu (Swiss Institute fellow, 2020–2021), Nicole Wermers (German Academy Rome – Villa Massimo fellow, 2012).
Sublime cliché, the third edition of the Festival of Foreign Academies and Cultural Institutes in Rome, curated by Saverio Verini, pays tribute to the connection between the extensive network of foreign cultural institutions and academies in Rome — along with their artist-in-residence programs — and the Eternal City itself.
The catalogue, published by Drago, serves as an extension of the exhibition project and the festival’s live program: in addition to the collection of images and texts documenting the works on display and the events of Live Live Live!, the publication includes critical contributions by Edoardo Albinati and Michele Di Monte, offering a historical and original perspective on the Eternal and decaying city.
As the curator writes: “In Sublime cliché, the city — with its reconcilable contradictions — is present in every selected work. The grandeur and antiquity of its landmarks are shown without hesitation, alongside more marginal or anonymous settings; there is urban Rome and wild Rome (which often coexist), the centre and the periphery, its historical roots and its current reality… Always with an eye that seeks to cast Rome in an unusual light, even on its most familiar images and scenarios.”
The exhibition offers “a portrait of Rome through fragments, not excluding clichés — but rather making them explicit and attempting to sublimate them, in an effort to present, as far as possible, an unexpected vision.”
On the occasion of the catalogue launch, curator Saverio Verini will be joined by Michele Di Monte, art historian and contributor to the publication, and Marco Provinciali of Supervoid, the architecture studio behind the exhibition design, which emphasizes the project’s urban dimension. The event will conclude with a guided tour led by the curator Saverio Verini.
