FOROF

FOROF is a unique Rome-based entity that combines archaeology and contemporary art, i.e., history and experimentation, thereby offering diversified services and an innovative cultural programme. FOROF aims at implementing a new cultural entrepreneurship model that can create a positive long-term social impact. Rome has attracted writers, artists and intellectuals from all over the world for centuries and can once again host art projects that can rediscover its ancient charm, thus drawing on the history of the city and its historical and artistic heritage. The cultural programme underlying the entire project and its identity is based on the idea of making FOROF a place of culture, art and history. Past and present dialogue within FOROF also by means of a magnifying glass that runs across the entire perimeter of the floor, thereby altering the visitor's gaze, establishing a privileged relationship with Trajan's Column, and enabling a spatial interaction between the two levels of FOROF. FOROF occupies the spaces of the historic Palazzo Roccagiovine, which is located right next to Trajan's Column and houses the coloured marble floors of Basilica Ulpia and the remains of the eastern apse. Archaeology becomes the medium for a contemporary kind of artistic promotion and production that is specifically dedicated to the archaeological area of the Trajan Forum. The FOROF proposal includes a programme of exhibitions with nationally and internationally renowned artists who will create a site-specific exhibition and an installation that will be activated by a programme of experiences. FOROF aims at innovatively sharing art with an audience in search of new quality experiences with a high cultural profile. The FOROF programme of activities and events is based on the dialogue among history, archaeology and contemporary art, with ample space for the artists' vision. Giovanna Caruso Fendi FOROF was born not only out of the need to protect, conserve and continue to enhance the artistic and cultural heritage of the place where it was established, but also out of a desire to make contemporary art a means of spreading content that leads to reflection and ‘open-mindedness’. I decided to entrust the conception of the artistic programme to a team of highly experienced, sensitive, prestigious curators, based on the idea that art can bridge the gap between the depth of the past and the potential of the present, thus leading to a greater awareness of our contemporary world. Indeed, the idea that the evolution of thought itself unfolds like an upward and downward spiral will enable us to use the messages conveyed by contemporary artists in order to establish a sort of perennial link between descent into history (the archaeological site) and the ascent into the present (the street level). Individual and social enrichment will be achieved as they would in a cinematic sequence (Trajan's column) in which images move back and forth. I would like FOROF to be a place of improvisation, a container of experiences to be had, an enthralling, long sunset that lasts from entry to exit. FOROF's aim is to embrace the dialogue with history and beauty through the language of the artists who will innovatively participate in the programming of the space. This place is not a museum, but a living setting, a stage where the role of the viewer merges with that of the performer.