The exhibitions not to be missed in December in Rome

Here are six exhibitions not to be missed in December in Rome, a month conducive to taking refuge in the heat of the museums.

Bob Dylan – Retrospectrum | MAAXI

Retrospectrum, curated by Shai Baitel, is the first European monographic exhibition exploring the vast plastic work of Bob Dylan. It traces the life course of the artist, whose multifaceted nature is told through a wide range of works of art, ranging from oil paints, acrylics, watercolors, drawings in ink, pastel and charcoal, to a series of iron sculptures. Through eight thematic sections – Early Works, The Beaten Path, Mondo Scripto, Revisionist, Drawn Blank, New Orleans, Deep Focus and Ironworks – the exhibition offers the opportunity to trace Bob Dylan’s lived experience in the field of the arts. visuals.
The works selected for the Rome exhibition represent a visual diary documenting the transformation of sources and styles that have inspired and influenced Bob Dylan over the years. Through new encounters with ever-changing environments and people, her work progresses in exciting ways, reflecting the sensibility of a truly artistic voice.
From December 16, 2022 to April 30, 2023
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
MAXXI – National Museum of 21st Century Arts
Via Guido Reni, 4A

Mario Mertz. Dance, carrà, de chirico, de pisis, morandi, savinio, severini. Roma 1978 | Palazzo delle Esposizioni

The Palazzo delle Esposizioni presents the Mario Merz exhibition. Balla, Carrà, de Chirico, de Pisis, Morandi, Savinio, Severini. Rome 1978 until February 26, 2023. The latter is part of the cycle of exhibitions that proposes the reconstruction of some of the most significant exhibitions, which have characterized the artistic panorama of Rome since the second half of the 20th century.
The second edition of this exhibition, inaugurated at the historic Galleria dell’Oca in Rome on March 15, 1978, is the fruit of the collaboration between Luisa Laureati Briganti, the gallery’s founder, and the gallery owners Luciano Pistoi and Gian Enzo Sperone. One of the milestones in the history of contemporary exhibitions, this one is striking for the juxtaposition, quite unusual at the time, between the works of Mario Merz, figurehead of Arte Povera, and the main painters 20th century Italians. All of these works, significant to the point of being preserved today in museums or in important international collections, represent a highly significant synthesis of the essential traits of the artist’s work and of the materials and themes that come up most often in his work: neon, Fibonacci numbers, igloos, wax, stuffed animals, fagots and images painted on unframed canvas.
From November 29, 2022 to February 26, 2023
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Palazzo delle Esposizioni
Via Nazionale, 194

Shared Holy Places | French School of Rome

At a time when fear of the other and of the religion of the other is growing, this photographic exhibition by Manoël Pénicaud offers a different and nuanced look at inter-religious interactions around the Mediterranean. Beyond theological differences and inter-religious conflicts, it aims to (re)understand the phenomenon of the frequentation of the same sanctuaries by followers of different religions, by making it possible to discover certain sacred places where hospitality of the ‘ “other religious”. However, these situations are fragile and constantly threatened by reactions of closure and hostility. Sharing then becomes synonymous with partition and separation.
Inviting everyone to take a step aside, the route presents itself as a pilgrimage in images around a plural Mediterranean, journeying from one holy place to another. The visit is divided into four parts: 1. Saints and prophets, 2. Mary the Christian, Mary the Muslim, 3. Architectures, 4. Actors and smugglers.
This photographic exhibition in Rome is part of the international exhibition “Shared Holy Places” presented at the Mucem in Marseille (2015), at the Bardo Museum in Tunis (2016), at the National Museum of Photography in Thessaloniki (2017 ), at the National Museum of the History of Immigration in Paris (2017), at the Musée des Confluences-Dar Al-Bacha in Marrakech (2018), at the New York Public Library (2018), at Depo in Istanbul (2019 ), or at CerModern in Ankara (2021).
From December 6 to January 19, 2023
Hours: Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
French School of Rome
Piazza Navona, 62

100 nativity scenes in the Vatican 2022

Christmas is approaching… On this occasion, from December 8, the International Exhibition of 100 nativity scenes at the Vatican is back for a 5th edition in the magnificent Saint Peter’s Square. Promoted by the Pontifical Council, this exhibition can be visited free of charge for five weeks, throughout the holiday season.

As tradition dictates, nativity scenes are made with different techniques, styles and materials, from paper to fabric, from cork to wood. They come from all over the world, and reflect different cultures and traditions. Each nativity scene is a masterpiece created with care and passion, fruit of the imagination and creativity of the artists and craftsmen of the nativity scene. Among the exhibitors are also amateurs, children, schoolchildren, national and international organizations, but also embassies.
From December 8, 2022 to January 8, 2023
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
St. Peter’s Square

Pietro Cascella Inedito. The opere degli esordi in Roma (1938-1961) | Villa Torlonia Museum

The Pietro Cascella Inedito exhibition. Le opere degli esordi a Roma (1938-1961) recounts a chapter in the history of the artist from Abruzzo through more than a hundred works, many of which are unpublished and little known, dating back to the first two decades of the artist’s activity. Thus, the route of the exhibition winds from the end of the 1930s to the beginning of the 1960s, revealing an eclectic and constantly evolving artistic history, from painting to sculpture.
Pietro Cascella (1921-2008) was a great Italian sculptor of the 20th century. Before reaching what he himself called “true sculpture”, that in stone, he also practiced drawing and painting with immediate public recognition, including participation in the IV Roman Quadrennial in 1943, and the Venice Biennale in 1948.
From December 1, 2022 to March 19, 2023
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Villa Torlonia Museum – Casino dei Principi
Via Nomentana, 70

Visual Diary. Mostra di Liana Miuccio | Modern Art Gallery

The innovative visual and literary exhibition, titled Visual Diary by artist Liana Miuccio at the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Rome, continues the artist’s ongoing study of identity, memory and migration through juxtaposition. of photographs and videos. The works of Liana Miuccio, in dialogue with the extracts of the writer Jhumpa Lahiri, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, represent the sense of identity and the place where one lives his daily life, through images of contemporary daily life. .
The exhibition is therefore presented as a linguistic and visual exchange between photography, video, everyday objects and writings, all reflecting common interests and sensitivities. Thus, the artist creates an intimate “visual diary” in the gallery. This exhibition invites visitors to participate in a collective experience that celebrates the daily life that unites us all.
From November 18, 2022 to March 12, 2023
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Roma Capitale Modern Art Gallery
Via Francesco Crispi, 24

Lola Descamps