Costa Rican
Sculpture Wows Rome
(ANSA) - Rome - Rome's two most famous
archaeological sites are for the first time
playing host to a contemporary art
exhibition, with a series of large-scale
sculptures by Costa Rican artist Jorge
Jimenez Deredia.
A number of massive bronze and marble
statues are on show in front of the
Colosseum and in the Roman Forum as part of
a wider display of Deredia's work around the
Italian capital. Deredia's sculptures have
been erected in several key sites, including
Piazza Barberini, San Lorenzo in Lucina and
in the courtyards of Rome's art museums,
such as Palazzo Massimo and Palazzo Altemps.
There are also a number of smaller works by
the artist at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni,
along with several of Deredia's bronze
pieces from his renowned Genesis series. The
Forum is hosting 17 separate sculpture
groups located at sites along the Via Sacra.
The idea of showing Deredia's statues in the
Forum and the Colosseum was first raised two
years ago but met with resistance in some
quarters among those who felt the
contemporary nature of the work was
inappropriate for the ancient sites. But
thanks to firm backing from Rome's municipal
council, centre-left former Rome mayor
Walter Veltroni and the current centre-right
mayor Gianni Alemanno, the initiative has
finally come to fruition. Discussing the
idea at its inauguration, Culture
Undersecretary Francesco Maria Giro said the
contrast between old and new was a crucial
element of the scheme.
''This is a project that unites the new,
which is the future, with the old, which
never dies,'' he said. As well as marking a
first for Rome's archaeological sites, the
exhibition also offers a preview of a new
international initiative by Deredia entitled
La Ruta de la Paz (The Path of Peace).
The Ruta de la Paz comprises nine new
sculpture groups that will eventually be
located in nine different countries across
the Americas, from Canada down to the Tierra
del Fuego, with stops en route in the US,
Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru and
Chile. The idea is to pull together peoples,
legends, myths, symbols and traditions from
an array of different backgrounds into a
single, overarching project. The Rome
exhibit features several of these pieces,
while the Genesis group at the Palazzo delle
Esposizioni has been described as ''the
heart'' of the Ruta de la Paz. Deredia's art
will be on display around the Italian
capital until November 30.
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Photo: A work by Deredia at a previous show
in Florence's Boboli Gardens
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