Call for Ideas “Arte in Costruzione”: the project “I rami che raccontano” (“The branches that tell”) by student Alexandra Fongaro wins.
A scholarship that is not only an encouragement to talent, but above all a prize for artists who embody research, experimentation and innovation. It is in this context that the RUFA Space, in the heart of Rome’s San Lorenzo district, hosted the final selection of the project “Art under construction – Culture, enterprise, territory”.
RICCI S.p.A., with the support of RUFA, launched a call-for-ideas among the students of the Visual Arts Department of the Academy, for the creation of an artistic work along the perimeter of a building site in the Flaminio district in Rome. The students were offered maximum creative freedom to create a work that will remain visible for the entire duration of the building site (approximately two years). The winning project will be awarded a scholarship worth two thousand euro, as well as payment for the materials needed to create the work.
The candidates
At the end of the call nine projects were submitted: 1) “From the outside, what’s going on” by Ginevra Miccadei; 2) “Breathing Air into the City” by Marina Collard & Bea Campbell; 3) “Fragmentancy” by Janneke leenders; 4) “Rome, the magnet! “by Ghazal Zare Zadegan; 5) “HABITAT” by Clarissa Secco; 6) “Val di burro” by Matteo Tamburro; 7) “Wolfgang Helbig” by Mirta Leuti, Andrea Arioli, Sofia Sonvico; 8) “I rami che raccontano” by Alexandra Fongaro; 9) “Rapidi” by Niccolò Di Ferdinando.
The jury, made up of RUFA Director Fabio Mongelli, curator and art critic Fabrizio Pizzuto, Managing Director Ricci S.p. A Silvia Ricci, President of the RUFA Board of Trustees, and the President of the RUFA Board of Trustees. A Silvia Ricci, the President of Fondazione Elpis Marina Missim, the co-founder of Galleria Continua Maurizio Rigillo, the Councilor of Municipio 2 Arianna Camellini, the Artistic Director of Teatro Vittoria Viviana Toniolo, struggled hard to determine the winning idea, thanks above all to the excellent level of the works presented and the work done by the coordinating teacher Emiliano Coletta.
The winning project: “I rami che raccontano”.
With 132 votes (the jurors had to express their opinion not only on the originality of the work, but also on its feasibility and adherence to the theme of the contest), Alexandra Fongaro won.
The trees of Rome,” said the artist during the presentation, “tell of the origins, achievements, defence and improvement of our lives. It is in this context that trees are witnesses to the future of cities and of Rome in particular. Considering the positions of certain trees on maps of the capital, it is possible to invite the viewer to follow a constantly changing map: the Quercia del Tasso, whose trunk was struck by lightning in 1843; the Almond tree in Villa Gloria, under which Enrico Cairoli was laid, shows the “wound” of a bullet; the Paulownia in Piazza della Chiesa Nuova, which resists thanks to the presence of a fountain next to it; the Arancio di San Domenico donated to Rome in 1220. And more: the Domus Augustus which, according to legend, preserves the fig tree where Romulus and Remus grew up. In San Giovanni, under the C metro, the seeds of the first peach trees can be found, without forgetting Michelangelo’s Cypress. Everything speaks of history, nature and memory. A principle that will be represented in the work.
Making of the artwork “I rami che raccontano”
