Hypothèse de lecture

Until 7 November, Trinità dei Monti is opening the Antica Biblioteca to the public – a part of the complex that can finally be visited following extensive restoration work. The space is being inaugurated with the group exhibition *Hypothèse de lecture*, curated by Gaia Bobò and Teresa Ranchino. The exhibition presents a selection of artists from the Italian and French art scenes, with a particular focus on the contexts of Rome and Paris and on emerging art. This event marks the launch of a new cultural direction for Trinità dei Monti, strongly championed by its director, Marie-Pierre Dabadie, who entrusts contemporary art and culture with the task of interpreting the historical traces of this place. Situated above the altar of the church of Trinità dei Monti – one of the five French churches in Rome belonging to the Pieux Établissements de la France à Rome et à Lorette – the former library of the Minims’ monastery housed some 9,000 volumes until the end of the 18th century. The space, now empty, is adorned with one of the city’s most monumental painted wooden ceilings. The dispersal of its book collection in 1798 and the damage sustained during the revolutionary upheavals have profoundly marked its history. A major restoration project, carried out from 2003 onwards in collaboration with the Vatican Museums’ workshops, has restored the library’s extraordinary decorative features, once again revealing its historical and artistic value. The exhibition is conceived as a tribute to the history of this place, which is reflected in the decision to construct a ‘phantom’ structure, inspired by a library and designed by the Belgian architect Olivier Goethals. This ‘interpretative hypothesis’ stems from a desire to imagine a rewriting that takes its starting point precisely in the irretrievable loss of the written texts and the library’s collection, filling a void that the works of the invited artists reinterpret in an imaginative way. Building on these ideas, the works resonate with the history and identity of the site through various critical themes: the relationship with the processes of loss and the dispersal of memory; the relationship between word and image, with a focus on exploring writing practices and literary influences; the generative dimension of destruction and fragmentation which, by evoking the concept of ‘spolia’, takes on a particular significance in the context of Rome’s archaeological stratification. The exhibition also aims to highlight the resonance of Baroque aesthetics in contemporary creation, drawing on the processes of metamorphosis of matter and the body, as well as the use of specific aesthetic devices. Info: Trinità dei Monti, Antica Biblioteca, Piazza della Trinità dei Monti, 3, Rome Artists: Alberte Agerskov, Edoardo Aruta, Charlie Aubry, Alix Boillot, Dario Carratta, Valeria Carrieri, Giulio Catelli, Henri Chetaille, Taisiia Cherkasova, Ginevra Collini, Max Coulon, Giulia Crivellaro, Anna de Castro Barbosa, Federica Di Pietrantonio, Marco Emmanuele, Marco Eusepi, Elisa Florimond, Clédia Fourniau, Pierre Gaignard, Luca Grechi, Carla Gueye, Ruoxi Jin, Charlie Jouan, Amalia Laurent, Giuseppe Lo Cascio, Guglielmo Maggini, Matisse Mesnil, Paul F. Millet, Diego Miguel Mirabella, Pietro Moretti, Alexandre Nitzsche Cysne, Lulù Nuti, Flavio Orlando, Francesca Pionati, Andrea Polichetti, Valentine Prissette, Alexander Raczka, Luca Resta, Théophile Stern, Vaste Programme. Opening hours: Wednesday–Friday: 5:00–8:00 pm / Saturday: 12:00–8:00 pm Free entry, no booking required