Rome, an exhibition to tell how the Appian Way is also modern

From May 18 to Oct. 13, 2024, the Casale di Santa Maria Nova in the Appia Antica Archaeological Park will host the exhibition L’Appia è moderna, curated by Claudia Conforti, Roberto Dulio, Simone Quilici, and Ilaria Sgarbozza, and promoted by the Appia Antica Archaeological Park and the Ministry of Culture’s General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity, with the organization of Electa.

Six sections dedicated to telling how the Appian Way is also modern. Paintings, photographs, illustrations, advertising posters, architectural plans and archival documents capture the energy of a century that profoundly shaped one of the most famous consular roads, making it a living part of the contemporary city.

Numerous projects by great architects of the last century include Marcello Piacentini, i Busiri Vici, Raffaele De Vico, Enrico Del Debbio, Luigi Moretti, Sergio Musmeci, Vincenzo Monaco and Amedeo Luccichenti, and Lucio Passarelli.

Not only architecture, but also the figurative arts - ranging between verism, symbolism and abstraction - have contributed significantly to the modern narrative of this part of the city. Among the works on display are works by Duilio Cambellotti and Giulio Aristide Sartorio.

In the postwar period, the regina viarum became Hollywood ’s Olympus of stars on the Tiber: modern swimming pools and classic nymphaea-the actors’ villas-stimulated the popular imagination and caused a stir in the magazines, creating new mass stereotypes. These new imaginaries became consolidated as a provocative alternative, unwittingly opposed to the elitist and prescriptive imagery of the “largest open-air archaeological museum.”

The persistence of the Appian Way’spop impact is manifested, decades later, in cinema-from La dolce vita to La grande bellezza-and in comic books, with two issues of Mickey Mouse using the Appian Way as a backdrop, revealing its powerful and vital modernity. Also on display are unpublished stills of the Appian Way extrapolated from a 35 mm film by Mariano Fortuny, revealing the artist’s view of the Via Appia Antica. These are subjects that Fortuny later translates into engravings and etchings, as well as into his famous textiles.

On the occasion of this exhibition, Francesco Jodice was invited to bring his gaze to the Appian Way. On display are eight of his photographs that offer a personal account of the historic street.

For info: https://www.parcoarcheologicoappiaantica.it/https://www.parcoarcheologicoappiaantica.it/

Hours: Through Sept. 30 from 9 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. Oct. 1 to 13 from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Image: Francesco Jodice, Via Appia, 2024, Villa dei Quintili

Rome, an exhibition to tell how the Appian Way is also modern

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