Bill Viola brought to you by an insurance company

A newly restored space in Rome. Palazzo Bonaparte (not to be confused, as we almost did, with the Napoleonic Museum) is in a palazzo where at least some of the Bonaparte family lived, on Piazza Venezia, at the beginning of via del Corso (tucked in a corner behind which wraps the Palazzo Pamphilj).

Above, the poster for the Viola exhibit, a video

still from his "Martyrs" series, this one "Water."

 

The current shows are two: the renowned US video artist, Bill Viola, and the Italian sculptor known as Jago, who is described as a "rock star" for his popularity.  Jago will have to wait another day for our visit. We went for Viola, whose work we've admired for years. 

Above, from "The Path (Going Forward by Day)"

The Viola exhibit includes 15 works, and therefore is one of the larger collections of his work in one place. It was curated by his wife. Kira Perov. It's hard to get photos of videos in the darkened rooms, though Bill was successful with a couple. (A good description and review of the exhibit is here: https://www.juliet-artmagazine.com/en/icons-of-light-bill-iola-in-rome/ )

The Viola videos in this show have one characteristic in common: they are slow-moving in the extreme. One can watch for five minutes and nothing appears to happen. And then it does. 

Although we have not yet seen the Jago exhibit, his work seems to share with Viola's a concentration on the body.

Because of the darkened rooms for the Viola show, one cannot get a good look at the restored palazzo. We could see the floors are glass - designed so one can see (if the rooms weren't so dark) the elaborate painted and inlaid floors without tromping on them. The Palazzo Bonaparte Web site has some 360 degree views of the rooms.

A view of the Palazzo
Bonaparte's ground floor

The Web site also has an informative timeline (in Italian and in English) of what this palazzo "saw" over its two centuries on this famous piazza - from 1657 when it was first being built - through the creation of the Italian state, the beginning of gas lighting (it was the first palazzo so lit in Rome), World War I,  the building of the monument to King Vittorio Emanuele II, Fascism, World War II, and the post-war epoch. 

As in other art spaces in Rome, capitalism is at work here. The owner of the building - and the restorer - is Generali Group, an Italian insurance conglomerate, the largest in Italy and among the top ten largest insurance companies in the world. They've teamed up with a cultural behemoth that knows how to mount and run shows: Arthemisia.  The Palazzo's gallery space opened in October 2019 with an exhibit of Impressionist work, which closed in June 2020. The current shows, which opened in March, are the ones to follow, after a period of quiescence caused by Covid.

Cutbacks in government funding for the arts, the lack of a history of individual contributions to not-for-profits, and Covid--all have contributed to a shrinking of the Rome contemporary art world. The capitalists are to be applauded for filling in some of the gaps, much as I think their doing so creates a host of issues, including the obvious demonstration of inequality of income, and their control over what is shown. The Fondazione Sorgente and the Palazzo Merulana are two Rome examples. A Los Angeles example is a gallery opened by the Marciano brothers who made their money with Guess Jeans. It closed when the workers tried to unionize, to underscore my point about control.

Above and below right, two stills from the "Fire" video in the "Martyrs" series.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the art that the capitalists are bringing to us, even if they are making us pay for it. Tickets for each of the Viola and Jago shows are 15 Euro, 20 Euro for both shows at the same time (with a host of "reductions"). From our experience, you do not need to book in advance.  Ticket, days and hours (open every day, for many hours) information here.

Dianne

Elsa Morante's Room - A glimpse into the life of one of Italy's best 20th-century writers

Elsa Morante from her terrazzo at via dell'Oca 27,
overlooking Piazza del Popolo and one of its
almost-twin churches, this one Santa Maria
dei Miracoli..

Elsa Morante was born, lived, and died in Rome. And her sprawling novel, History ("La Storia"), presents Rome during and after World War II as one its main protagonists.  The center of Rome was Morante's life-blood.  She never cooked at home; she ate in the city's restaurants. She was part of the city's most vibrant literary scenes, and the literati too met in the cafes and restaurants.  She lived in many different apartments in different parts of the city, and wrote in her city studio.  She was moody and idiosyncratic, married to and divorced from, and, in the opinion of many today, unjustly overshadowed by, the literary lion Alberto Moravia (whose apartment - which he occupied with his second wife, Dacia Maraini -  we visited and wrote about in a 2013 post).

It seemed, then, a potentially rewarding and easy task to track Morante's life in Rome, starting with Lily Tuck's 2008 biography appropriately titled "Woman of Rome: A Life of Elsa Morante."  But the Rome of today is not the Rome Morante lived in; it's not even the Rome of the 1980s when she died.

La Stanza di Elsa  - Elsa Morante's study, at via dell'Oca 17, re-created in the Biblioteca Nazionale.

What IS available is the re-creation of Morante's study inside the Biblioteca Nazionale ("National Library") in Rome.  Like many creative people, Morante had a particular way of writing, and, with few exceptions, wrote in her study.  The re-assembling of her study, with all of her furniture, books, and art, was made possible through a grant to the library by Carlo Cecchi, her literary executor and close friend.  The library also was given her archive - thousands of pieces.  These include the notebooks on which she wrote - long hand - all but her last novel.  Digital photographs of the notebooks also are available in the library.

Piazza del Popolo today.  The large apartment building to the right is where Morante lived
and where her study was located.  The picture at the top shows her on the terrazzo of
this building, with the church dome behind her.  The building's entrance, on via dell'Oca,
is on the side that is in back of Piazza del Popolo.  

For those of us who appreciate seeing how and where creative minds work, La Stanza di Elsa  (Elsa's Room) is a required stop in Rome.  And La Storia should take its place in the 20th-century canon of best literature. (I take issue with Tim Parks who says it does not have "the charm...and dazzling imaginative richness" of her other works.)

Morante with Moravia and Pier Paolo Pasolini.  She was very
close to Pasolini, though estranged from him after he wrote
a devastatingly critical review of La Storia.  She was overcome
by his brutal murder.

We can see that Morante was passionate
about British poet Sylvia Plath.  This
photo is of books on the bookshelves
of "Elsa's Room" in the Biblioteca
Nazionale, part of the trove of her
archives donated to the BN.

All of the materials associated with La Stanza di Elsa, including large panels and a 10-minute impressionistic video with readings, are in Italian.  Head curator Elenora Cardinale said there are plans to provide some materials in English in the future.  In the meantime, if you don't read Italian, look up some material on Morante ahead of time, or use your smart phone while you're there to gather information.

Bill Morrow's paintings in "Elsa's Room"

If you don't know Morante's bio, one piece of information explains the paintings on the walls, most by Bill Morrow, a charismatic American more than 20 years her junior.  She and Morrow planned to live together in Rome, but in 1962 he jumped to his death from a Manhattan skyscraper (presumably under the influence of LSD), before their plans materialized. His paintings hung on her studio walls until her death, more than 20 years later.

Morante's notebooks also are fascinating.  She wrote longhand on one side of the page, using a consistent type of notebook for a work, but a different type for each different work.  Once finished, apparently she would go back and on the reverse side of the page make notes, drawings, and basically develop more fully characters, plot lines, and ideas for the novel she was writing. For reasons of copyright protection, according to Cardinale, the notebooks are not available on the internet.  Some material on Morante is available online from the library (again, in Italian).

A corner of her re-constructed study and a photo of Morante writing
in the study.

Morante was childless, yet wrote often about mothers and children (the mother and son are the main characters in History), and she transferred some of that love to her cats.  You will hear them also in Elsa's Room.

The entrance to "Elsa's Room" with explanatory panels
(in Italian).

The Biblioteca Nazionale is at the Castro Pretorio Metro B stop.  The room is open to any visitor, without a reservation, currently during the hours of 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Saturdays.  The entrance is before the turnstiles for the library itself.

Since Elsa's Room was conceived and constructed, the Biblioteca Nazionale has added more rooms that focus on about two dozen major Italian writers of the 20th century, called Spazi900 ("20th- Century Space"), which opened within the past year.  This is also a fascinating path through Italian literary history of the last century, and includes a major focus on Pier Paolo Pasolini.  More about Spazi900 in a future post.

via dell'Oca 27 - not much to see here.

And now to my attempt to follow Morante through Rome.  Her studio that is re-created in the Biblioteca Nazionale is from her apartment at via dell'Oca 27, basically in a building on Piazza del Popolo (though one enters it behind the piazza).  She and Moravia lived in the apartment for the greater part of their troubled married life, and she continued to live there after they divorced.

Dal Bolognese, the restaurant under Morante's building
at via dell'Oca 27.  This woman reflected my mood that day.

One of the restaurants she frequented was just below her apartment backing onto the piazza, but I was there on its weekly day of closure.

Building where the gallery
"La Nuova Pesa" - which
exhibited Morrow's work -  is
now located on an upper floor,
via del Corso.

I also tried to find the gallery where Bill Morrow had a major exhibition.  It still exists (or rather has been revived), but in a totally different location - actually one quite close to via dell' Oca 27 on via del Corso.

Instead of artisan shops, one now finds
high-priced boutiques on via Frattina,
but also a plaque indicating James
Joyce lived here.

I also tried to find the stationery shop where Morante bought her particular notebooks, on via Frattina near the Spanish Steps.  It no longer is there, replaced by upscale clothing boutiques.  The address in Prati to which it supposedly relocated and should still be, seems now to be a Chinese-run housewares store.

via Margutta still looks pretty, perhaps as it
did in Morante's day.

Morante spent time on the once (and sort-of-still artsy street of via Margutta (where Gregory Peck had his studio in Roman Holiday), but I saw mostly digital companies there.

but this is the type of enterprise one
sees most of these days.

She also spent a lot of time on via del Corso, which runs in a straight line from Piazza Venezia to Piazza del Popolo, but it's now mostly a tacky tourist shopping street, and I can't imagine she would find it appealing.

About as good as via del Corso can look
these days.

Morante once called Piazza Navona the most beautiful piazza in the world.  Though jammed with tourists, and those hawking wares to tourists, it still may warrant that description.

In Testaccio.
  This plaque has a poetic tribute to her (I'm
taking some liberties in the translation):
"A visionary mind.  A profound sense of pain.
A life that had the humble capacity to
transform history [la storia] into myth. 
A life told in brutal and mysterious stories."

Morante's rather lower-class family lived in various locales in Rome as she was growing up, including in Testaccio, then a working-class district.  We found a plaque on a building where she once lived as an unhappy girl.

We also serendipitously visited the site where Morante's father (in name only) worked as a probation officer - the boys' and girls' reformatories of San Michele a Ripa in Trastevere (which we covered in a recent post).

The boys' "reformatory" at San Michele a Ripa
(restored recently).

Although there are other places I could have gone to 'locate' Morante--the restaurant where she broke her leg, an accident that led eventually to her death (Da Giggetto in the ghetto, on via Portico d'Ottavia) or the nursing home where she spent her last 2 years near Villa Massimo in the Piazza Bologna area--it seemed to me the Rome of Morante was simply not psychologically and physically the Rome of today.  Better to go to La Stanza di Elsa at the Biblioteca Nazionale.

Dianne

A Tree Lives in Rome: Giuseppe Penone's art installations in the City.

Foglie di Pietra  in Largo Goldoni

Giuseppe Penone's massive tree-like sculptures have dominated Rome's art scene over the past few years, and one is now on permanent public display.

Another view of Foglie di Pietra  in Largo Goldoni

We'd say don't miss it, but it's hard not to.  The large sculpture, entitled Foglie di Pietra ("Leaves of Stone"), occupies a prominent spot on Largo Goldini, along via del Corso in front of the Fendi store there.  It's Fendi, the luxury brand, that paid for the sculpture and its installation.

"Penone, Fogie di Pietra stupiranno Roma" - "Penone, Leaves of Stone will astonish Rome" reads the headline of an article describing the installation of the work and using Penone's verb, "stupire" - to astonish, surprise or make wonder.  The work "rises on high because I'm working on public ground that shouldn't occupy space," said Penone.  The trees, weighing 11 tons, are designed to "provoke a sense of wonder that should make one reflect on the meaning of the work:  the reality that surrounds it, the architecture of the city based on naturalism.....it's also a reflection of the material, the marble, and nature.  The Corinthian capital [see top photo - it's the white block] represents historical memory.  I put the block on high to indicate the elevation of man and to make one think about the ruins underground below."

In 2009, Penone's work was the subject of a large exhibition at Villa Medici, the French academy in Rome.  Any time a show occupies the inside space at Villa Medici, including the ancient cistern, and the outside space, it's a great experience.  The tree and stone theme was evident in 2009 as well.











Earlier this year, as part of Fendi's grand opening of its headquarters in the Palazzo della Civilta' Romana (the Fascist era "Square Coliseum," the restoration of which Fendi also financed) in EUR, it sponsored Matrice, an exhibition of Penone's more recent work.  Speaking of this show, Penone said, "The trees appear solid, but if we observe them over time, from their birth, they become fluid and malleable.  A tree is a being that memorizes its own form."  That exhibition closed in July; some photos of it follow.

Penone, born in 1947, is considered part of the Arte Povera movement.  For those non-Italians,the Arte Povera movement was active primarily in the 1960s and 1970s and includes artists such as Jannis Kounellis, Michelangelo Pistoletto, and Mario and Marisa Merz.  The movement was marked by the use of "poor" or "impoverished" materials and promoted art free of established conventions.  Some of these principles still inform Penone's work.

Dianne

Outdoor sculpture in front of the Square Coliseum, EUR
part of the Matrice exhibit (no longer there).

Fendi's entrance to the restored Square Coliseum.

Riding a Scooter in Rome

OK.  You've succumbed to temptation and rented a scooter, despite never having ridden one.  You've got your pretty wife on the back, holding on tight, and you're pulling out from Bici Baci into Rome traffic.  What should you think about?  What do you need to know? 

1) Road Hazards


Under an overpass, waiting out the rain

     Rome's roads have been deteriorating for more than a decade.  Potholes abound, and if you hit one before you see it, you could lose control.  Although much of the Lungotevere (the broad street that runs on either side of the river) has been paved in asphalt (over brick - or the Roman sanpietrini - see our post on these), brick streets are common in the city and they pose special problems for scooters.  They're rough (especially on the passenger), and more slippery than asphalt, especially when wet.  Be exceedingly cautious when riding on any wet surface; turn slowly and gradually.  You can slip and fall, too, on any of the city's many tram tracks, with their shiny metal surfaces (again, especially dangerous when wet).  If you're going the same direction as the tram tracks, crossing them is tricky business; to do so safely, increase the angle of crossing just a bit, so that your tire doesn't ride the track.  Watch out, too, for loose gravel, anywhere, but especially at the junctures of country roads or the entrances to quarries, brickyards, and other construction facilities.  When possible, avoid turning on gravel.  When it rains, stay off the scooter.  If you're on the scooter and it starts raining, join most Romans and find an underpass (or a cafe) until the storm passes (photo above right). 

2)   The Threat of What's Behind

     Most of your attention will be properly focused on what's ahead of you, but you'll need to be conscious of vehicles behind you, too.  Here's the problem: if you were driving in the States, you'd have a lane that was yours.  That's not the case in Rome, where two-way streets will be marked only by a center line, and multiple-lane streets going one direction (say, the Lungotevere) will usually have no lane markings at all.  So it's a bit of a free-for-all out there.  Because you're new to the scooter you'll often (and reasonably) be driving a bit more slowly than the rest of the traffic, and that means that you'll be passed often, and sometimes at very high speeds.  You'll need to keep an eye on your rear-view mirrors, but you can't do that all the time, and despite your best efforts you'll often be taken by surprise by cars, big scooters, and motorcylcles--some of them crotch-rockets, coming from the rear.  Indeed, some cycle drivers enjoy coming close to a slower-moving vehicle (that is, you), then moving sharply into its path.  It looks dangerous, and it is, but it happens all the time.  Important advice: hold your line.  Unless there's a reason to move left or right--and you've checked your mirrors to make sure it's OK--don't.  Just keep going on the line you have. 

3.  Leader of the Pack.
     One of the pleasures of riding a scooter in Rome, and one of the reasons that it makes sense for so many to do so, is that scooters have the right to go between cars and find their way to the front of a group of vehicles waiting, say, at a stop light.  That's not true everywhere--you'd be ticketed in Buffalo if you did it--but it's well-established custom in Rome.  So there you are, sitting in front with 10 or 15 other scooters, waiting for the light to change.  And here's the rub: when the light changes, you have an obligation to accelerate in a timely, consistent fashion.  If you dally--if you're looking at your map, or are otherwise distracted--the people behind you won't like it.  And if (this happened to me once) you're not concentrating, the light changes, and you're not sure whether to go or not, and you start and then slow down or stop in your indecision, you'll be hit from behind. 

4.  Riding the Sidewalk
     In extreme traffic situations, where the roadway is so crowded that even scooters can't make progress, some scooters will take to the sidewalk.  This is most common on the last stretch of the Lungotevere, heading south, just before Porta Portese.  Not a good idea. 

5.  Cutting in, the Italian Version. 
     In Italy, it seems to be the custom that a vehicle with even a slight advantage on the vehicle next to it (say, two or three feet), may cut in front.  If you did that in LA, you'd be shot, and in most American cities it would be considered rude and wrong and provoke much honking and cursing.  Not so in Rome.  We don't advise that you engage in this behavior, only that you know it exists, so when it happens to you you'll understand. 

6.  Riding the White Line

Would you ride the white line?

     On crowded two-lane roads, especially those exiting and entering the city, it is customary for scooters to use the middle of the road--i.e., the area straddling the white line in the middle--as a third lane.  Scooters going the direction of the heaviest traffic have an informal right-of-way to the white line, so that scooters moving with less traffic are expected, sometimes and now and then, to defer.  Nonetheless, scooters going both directions will ride the white line, zipping in and out as they do so.  This can be exciting--like being part of a human video game--but it is obviously not for the faint of heart or the novice driver.  For scooters, riding the asphalt shoulder (on the right) is also permitted--indeed, encouraged and expected (Dianne here - I don't like being on the right; too many unforeseen obstacles).
     Sometimes, it's OK even to use a good portion of the left lane.  The best example is the intersection of via del Circo Massimo and via Santa Maria in Cosmedin, the latter named after the church on the corner that houses the famous tourist attraction, the Bocca della Verita'.  The bottleneck occurs as vehicles move southward over two lanes through Piazza Boca della Verita' and must negotiate a stoplight.  Dense traffic backs up through the piazza, often preventing scooters from using the usual between-the-lanes tcchnique.  Rather than wait, scooters cross the white line, use the oncoming lane (especially when there's no oncoming traffic) to bypass the jam and reach the front.  If you're in Rome for very long, you'll be doing it, too. 

7.  Speeding
    You'd have to behave like Mario Andretti to get a speeding ticket in Rome.  Although there has been some concern about excessively high speeds on the freeways outside the city, that doesn't seem to have carried over to the city streets.  There are no posted limits and, to our knowledge, no customary limit.  In most situations, the traffic determines how fast vehicles can move, and most Romans proceed at a reasonable pace for a given place and condition.  It's a great pleasure to drive without constantly checking the speedometer. 

8.  Restricted Areas
     Unlike automobiles, which can be restricted from driving in the historic center, scooters can go anywhere--or almost.  One of Rome's most important thoroughfares, via del Corso (running north and south betweeen Piazza Venezia and Piazza del Popolo) is restricted, limited to pedestrians and special vehicles (small buses, taxis, emergency vehicles, police, big wigs, hotel guests), except in the wee hours of the morning, when you'll be asleep - or, if you have jet lag, get up and drive it; it's a great time to scooter through Rome, as we noted in an earlier post.  As a result, getting from Piazza del Popolo to Piazza Venezia, or vice-versa, involves a maze-like journey through the city's medieval core.  Fun or irritating, depending on your mood.

9.  If You've Never Driven a Scooter 


Watch for opening car doors

      A few thoughts for the real novice.  Turning a scooter is counterintuitive.  You'd think that to turn the scooter left, you would pull on the left handlelbar.  Nope.  To turn left, you push gently on the left handle.  This push intiates a slight body lean, which turns the scooter.  Find yourself a quiet place to try this a few times, alternating light left and right pushes. 
      For the passenger: avoid sudden movements at any time and, on turns, don't try to help; avoid leaning to assist the turn or leaning to counter it.  Just sit there.  And, as if it needs to be said, riding side-saddle is stupid (photo below right, but she was in Islamic dress; so maybe she had no choice).  For those who have rented a 50cc scooter: because you'll be going more slowly than much of the traffic, stay to the right, near the shoulder.  For all drivers: when driving near parked cars, watch for opening doors.  Don't get "doored."!  

10.  What to Wear

Bare arms and hands look good, but what if she falls?

Imagine your scooter going down, even at the slow speed of 25 mph.  For 20 or 30 yards, you're underneath your bike, your arms and legs pressed against asphalt or brick.  To protect yourself from serious abrasions, wear a leather jacket, jeans, gloves, and boots (yes, uncomfortable in the Roman summer).  Helmets are required by law in all of Italy (though you'll still see some helmetless young riders in small towns), and full helmets, the kind that cover the chin, are by far the most protective.  To protect your eyes, especially if your scooter lacks a windshield, keep your face shield down. 



11.  Watch Your Attitude




Riding side-saddle, and with a long skirt,
is really dumb, but if you're a woman
in Islamic dress, maybe you have no choice

        Driving a scooter can be a heady experience  Novice or expert, it's not uncommon to feel cool, confident, even cocky, especially with a woman on the back.  But you should know that when you feel that way, it's a bad sign.  It mean you're focusing on yourself rather than the road.  There's no room for that on a two-wheeled vehicle moving 40 miles an hour.  Get back to work!

Bill

Cheap at Twice the Price

We're always on the lookout for bargains, and we think we found one while window shopping on the via del Corso. We don't know how anyone with a toddler could resist dressing up the little tyke in these cute mini- sandals--and only 42 Euro, or about $59 US. Why not buy two pair? Or add those adorable silver track shoes, at only 48 Euro, perfect for getting your critter to the potty with time to spare. Surprise your rug rat with both for just $127! Bill

Capital Days

In a few days stretch recently, Rome hosted a G-8 meeting, was the scene of the world soccer championship finals, had a big national holiday (Republic Day, June 2), and was the last stage of the classic Italian bicycle tour (Giro d'Italia - photo at right near the beginning in front of the Vittoriano, in Piazza Venezia, with the rain just starting), celebrating its 100th year. Being visitors, and not having to get to and from work or figure out what to do with our kids on a holiday, we enjoy the hubbub (tho' it did upset my plans that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was in town today, closing down the Capitolini museums). Rome usually overreacts (in our HO) to all these events, closing more streets, businesses, and venues than it seems to us they need to, becoming an "armed city," as the papers say, and frustrating everyone.

Rome surprised us for the Giro d'Italia by being organized and yet not overly protective. In fact, we were shocked at how close we - and everyone else - could get to the riders, how easily anyone could cross the route, how friendly some of the police guarding the route were, and how fun it all was. The last stage was a time trial - so the riders went off at 1 and then 2 minute intervals. (Photo at right - police motorcycle escorts pulling out of the pool to run in advance of a rider; bottom of Trajan's column across the street.) For people who weren't that interested, we spent almost 3 hours watching the riders at various places, including turns and wet cobblestones (the winner, Russian Menchov, fell near the end - just out of our sight). It's a lovely sight to see Rome as the backdrop (and ground) for an exciting race; it shows off the city at its best (photo at left, rider coming off the Pincio - and several hairpin curves) into Piazza del Popolo).

The few photos here give some semblance of that feeling. (Photo below left, rider on via del Corso; below 2nd left, merchandise van - the winner of each stage wears a pink shirt (and, no, Mom didn't buy her the stuffed animal with Giro logo); last photo, bottom right, nearing the home stretch.) Dianne