Ouvert la nuit: night walk among installations in the gardens of Villa Medici

From December 16, 2017 to January 28, 2018, the gardens of Villa Medici in Rome can be visited at night for the first time as part of the"Festival des Lumières" initiative, a cycle of light installations in the Villa’s gardens curated by Chiara Parisi: it begins with the exhibition"Ouvert la nuit," where the protagonists are installations created by internationally renowned artists such as Rosa Barba, Camille Blatrix, Christian Boltanski, Nina Canell, Robin Watkins, Maurizio Cattelan, Trisha Donnelly, Jimmie Durham, Elmgreen & Dragset, Félix González-Torres, Douglas Gordon, Joan Jonas, Hassan Khan, Lee Mingwei, François Morellet, and Otobong Nkanga.

The curator says the title Ouvert la nuit refers to Paul Morand’s collection of short stories, in which each story takes place at night and in a different place. The idea of the exhibition is for visitors to interact with the artworks they encounter on their nighttime walk. The scenic space of Villa Medici plays with the immateriality of light and the splendor of darkness.

The path begins for the visitor amidst the fog and snow and with the help of a lamp he plunges into an unreal space with fireflies, voices, and veiled presences-a sensory journey born from the idea of Christian Boltanski and Jean Kalman.

It continues in Cleopatra’s Loggia with Untitled (America) by Félix González-Torres. Then again"White Museum" by Rosa Barba, the poetic sculpture of Joan Jonas, and the luminous sculpture between humor, subversion and voyeurism by Elmgreen & Dragset. This is followed by Nina Canell and Robin Watkins’"The Luminiferous Aether," in which visitors can listen to the sounds of an aurora borealis; Douglas Gordon’s"Jesus is not enough"; and Lee Mingwei’s"Small Conversation," in which insect verses recall the island of Taiwan, where the artist grew up.

It continues with Christian Boltanski’s installations inspired by Chinese shadows, François Morellet’s"Lamentable," Hassan Khan’s word-sculpture, Otobong Nkanga’s archaeological excavation, Trisha Donnelly’s sound installation and Jimmie Durham’s ceremonial fire, and finally Maurizio Cattelan’s"Made in Catteland."

Villa Medici director Muriel Mayette-Holtz says it will be a “nighttime walk to meet, under the lights, contemporary creation, a project that we will find again each year and that will allow us to discover a new face of the Villa Medici gardens each time.”

For info: www.villamedici.it

Hours: Friday through Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m.

Free admission

Ouvert la nuit: night walk among installations in the gardens of Villa Medici

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