At the Santa Maria della Pietà the work by Alessandra Porfidia “On Vacuum

At the Santa Maria della Pietà, the complex that the Campidoglio wants to transform into a center for well-being and services, there is also space for art: the statue created by Alessandra Porfidia, the winning project of the PAC 2020 of the Ministry of Culture, was installed in the garden.

At Santa Maria della Pietà “On Vacuum – Space around the void”

The work, inaugurated together with the leaders of the Museo Laboratorio della Mente of the ASL Roma 1, the Ministry and the XIV Municipality, is entitled “On Vacuum – Space around the void”: it is a metal sculpture centered on the concept of “emptiness” and immersed in the “full” made up of the centuries-old tree essences that characterize the park.

A statue in the park of the former psychiatric hospital

“It was an exciting occasion because this work is part of a historical context that collects the memory of the city, painful for the people who were part of this place dedicated to the health of the mind. It was therefore beautiful – said Porfidia – to think that a sculpture could be an inclusive element for those passing through the park and for visitors to the Laboratory of the Mind Museum, playing on the void as a metaphor for the richness of what is found around the work, which has extremely simple shapes but rich in elements inclusive”.

In the wellness center there is also space for art

“The placement of this work in the Santa Maria della Pietà Park is part of the broader program promoted by the Lazio Region, ASL Roma 1 and the Municipality of Rome for the construction of a wellness park, which at the same time maintains traces of what it was with a perspective towards the future that is fundamentally cultural. We want, first of all, to contribute to changing the opinion towards mental illness and health in general, because there is no health without mental health” – added the Director of the Mental Health Department of ASL Roma 1, Giuseppe Ducci. “Today’s event confirms and strengthens what will be the scenario of the next years of the Santa Maria della Pietà: a strong alliance between the Region, the ASL Roma 1, the Municipality of Rome and the XIV Municipality, to make it the largest cultural epicenter of north-west Rome. This is a mapped out path that will see all our abilities and all our intelligence invested, to create a great common home for citizens with a cultural, social and naturalistic vocation which are the essential elements of this District” – underlined the President of the Municipality XIV, Marco Della Porta. “This initiative – reiterated the 2020 Contemporary Art Plan Procedure Manager – Ministry of Culture, Giovanni Caprara – fits well into the context of the Park, it is a site specific work, conceptually it is a very valid proposal, especially regarding the concept of emptiness which is connected to the historical activity of this healthcare facility. The Museum has wonderful spaces that certainly lend themselves to expanding this heritage of contemporary art and therefore we hope there will be new collaborations in the future.”

“We are very happy to inaugurate this work, it is the first time that the Museum – said Director Pompeo Martelli – manages to win a competition on contemporary art like the one announced with the PAC 2020 by the Ministry of Culture. A great challenge also work on an extra-museum dimension, given that the work, despite being outside the exhibition itinerary, summarizes it, becoming an attraction also for the park project”.

Who is the artist Alessandra Porfidia

Alessandra Porfidia teaches Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, where she is active in many contemporary research initiatives at European level. You have won numerous national awards, such as Fiumara-ARGAM, and international ones. In 1996 you participated in the XII Quadrennial “Italy 1950-1990. Last generations” and a sculpture from the cycle presented was acquired by the MACRO Museum. Her works have been exhibited all over the world: from the United States to Cairo, from France to Japan (in 1998 she won the Osaka Triennial). In 2011 you presented “Sustainable Imagination” at the X International Sculpture Forum at the Guggenheim in Bilbao. Her works are currently in museums, private and permanent collections and in public spaces.