Exhibitions in Rome
January 2027
January at a glance: 0 exhibitions opening, 7 closing, and 16 more on view across the city.
Closing in January
Il non finito: fra poetica e tecnica esecutiva4 Jan 2027Capitoline Museums
A Pinacoteca display using scientific imaging to reveal the creative process behind unfinished paintings by artists such as Palma il Vecchio, Guido Reni and Garofalo.
Shirin Neshat: Do U Dare!10 Jan 2027MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Arts
A trilogy of films and a series of photographs on identity, power and belonging, centred on activist and YouTuber Nasim Aghdam and the tensions of the American Dream.
Angeli: Messengers, Guardians and Wanderers from Antiquity to the Contemporary10 Jan 2027Capitoline Museums
An exhibition in Palazzo dei Conservatori tracing the angelic figure across Western art from antiquity to today, through three sections: messengers, guardians and wanderers.
extra MAXXI — Sensing the Future31 Jan 2027MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Arts
Part of the "extra MAXXI" programme, pairing Futurist masterpieces by artists like Boccioni and Balla with contemporary works responding to their legacy of speed and simultaneity.
Richard Avedon. In the American West. 1979-198431 Jan 2027Palazzo delle Esposizioni
Avedon's portrait series of workers, drifters and townspeople of the American West, commissioned by the Amon Carter Museum in 1979. Curated by Clément Chéroux of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Sappho. The Spirit of Poetry31 Jan 2027Colosseum and Roman Forum
Exhibition on Sappho of Lesbos in the Farnese Aviaries on the Palatine, set between the historical poet and the legendary one, with vases, sculpture, paintings and manuscripts.
Marialba Russo: Sguardo rovescio31 Jan 2027MACRO - Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome
The pioneering photographer's first major Italian museum retrospective, presenting seven foundational 1970s bodies of work that intertwined artistic practice with visual anthropology and social observation.
Also on through January
Bill Viola's "The Greeting" in the Roman Forum. A tribute to Pontormoto 6 Feb 2027Colosseum and Roman Forum
Bill Viola's 1995 video installation The Greeting, inspired by Pontormo's Visitation, shown in the Byzantine frescoed church of Santa Maria Antiqua in the Roman Forum.
NATURE: Tatiana Bilbao Estudio. Campo apertoto 7 Feb 2027MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Arts
Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao turns a MAXXI hall into a landscape to explore and inhabit, inspired by the Mesoamerican ball game and built for connection.
Sophie Calle: Matrimoni, Rotture e Funerali inclusito 7 Feb 2027MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Arts
Sophie Calle's first Rome retrospective spans more than forty years of work probing presence, absence and intimacy through photography and narrative.
ENTRATE TAKK: con-vivereto 14 Feb 2027MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Arts
Barcelona and New York studio TAKK fills MAXXI's lobby with six mobile sculptural elements made of low-carbon and living materials, exploring new ways of coexistence.
Ordinare il mondo. L'Archivio di Nanda Lanfrancoto 28 Feb 2027MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Arts
The full archive of Genoese photographer Nanda Lanfranco, loaned to MAXXI in 2024, tracing her record of the international contemporary art scene from the 1970s to the 2000s.
Gordon Matta-Clarkto 28 Feb 2027MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Arts
An interdisciplinary exhibition on Gordon Matta-Clark's radical architectural interventions and creative practice, from his experimental New York years to his influential work in Italy.
MAXXI BVLGARI PRIZE 2026to 7 Mar 2027MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Arts
The fifth edition of MAXXI's prize supporting young artists in collaboration with Bvlgari; for the first time all three finalists — Chiara Bersani, Adji Dieye and Margherita Moscardini — are women, with the winning work joining the permanent collection.
De Chirico e la Metafisicato 21 Mar 2027La Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GNAM)
Ten loans by Giorgio de Chirico shown with the gallery's Metaphysical collection, plus architectural drawings and photographs that read Rome as a "metaphysical city".
FOOD. Il gusto nell'arteto 29 Mar 2027Chiostro del Bramante
Curated by Suzanne Landau: 190 works from the 16th century to today on food as memory, language and art form, including Bompas & Parr's Pasta Shell Grotto and Yinka Shonibare.
Marina Abramović: Historical Works and Transforming Energyto 4 Apr 2027La Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GNAM)
Marking the artist's 80th birthday, an expanded version of the Venice Biennale show pairing historical performance works (Imponderabilia, Balkan Baroque, The Artist is Present) with a selection of her Transitory Objects. Curated by Shai Baitel and Andrea Tarsia.
Keith Haringto 11 Apr 2027Museo di Roma (Palazzo Braschi)
Over 140 works by Keith Haring, including Subway Drawings, 1984 FDR Drive panels, prints, posters and sculptures, with loans from the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection.
Il Villaggio Olimpico di Roma. Il mondo in 300.000 mqto 25 Apr 2027MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Arts
Archive drawings and images of the 1960 Olympic Village, where athletes of many nations lived side by side, read as a case study in cultural diplomacy through sport.
FRONTIERE. The Geopolitics of Architectureto 25 Apr 2027MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Arts
The exhibition examines how architects respond to global instability, redefining design's role and responsibilities amid contemporary geopolitical uncertainty.
Il potere del ritratto. Egitto e Roma. I volti del Fayumto 2 May 2027Museo dell'Ara Pacis
Over 110 works, including nearly 50 Fayum mummy portraits lent by Egypt, the Louvre, the Getty and the Met, set against Roman portraiture in marble and plaster.
MAXXI Collection: Ritrovarsito 5 Sept 2027MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Arts
A display from the MAXXI Collection in Gallery 3, curated by Luigia Lonardelli, presenting works as small pieces of fabric to be sewn together, fragile yet monumental.
I Colori dell'Antico: Marmi Santarelli ai Musei Capitolinito 30 Apr 2032Capitoline Museums
A long-running display in Palazzo Clementino of over 660 polychrome marbles from the Imperial age, from the Santarelli collection, illustrating Rome's history through coloured stone.
Image credits
23
- Il non finito: fra poetica e tecnica esecutivaCourtesy of Capitoline Museums
- Shirin Neshat: Do U Dare!Shirin Neshat, Do U Dare!, 2025. Film still. Courtesy of the artist, Gladstone, and Lia Rumma Gallery, Milan/Naples.
- Angeli: Messengers, Guardians and Wanderers from Antiquity to the ContemporaryCourtesy of Capitoline Museums
- extra MAXXI — Sensing the FutureCourtesy of MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Arts
- Richard Avedon. In the American West. 1979-1984Courtesy of Palazzo delle Esposizioni
- Sappho. The Spirit of PoetryCourtesy of Colosseum and Roman Forum
- Marialba Russo: Sguardo rovescioCourtesy of MACRO - Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome
- Bill Viola's "The Greeting" in the Roman Forum. A tribute to PontormoCourtesy of Colosseum and Roman Forum
- NATURE: Tatiana Bilbao Estudio. Campo apertoFoto © Vincenzo Labellarte, courtesy Fondazione MAXXI
- Sophie Calle: Matrimoni, Rotture e Funerali inclusi© Sophie Calle / SIAE (Roma, 2026)
- ENTRATE TAKK: con-viverePhoto © Vincenzo Labellarte
- Ordinare il mondo. L'Archivio di Nanda LanfrancoNanda Lanfranco, self-portrait, 1976, Genova. Photo Nanda Lanfranco. Centro Archivi MAXXI Arte, Archivio Nanda Lanfranco Loan
- Gordon Matta-Clark© The Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy The Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark and David Zwirner
- MAXXI BVLGARI PRIZE 2026Chiara Bersani, photo by Lorenza Daverio; Adji Dieye, photo by Emmanuel Yoro
- De Chirico e la MetafisicaCourtesy of La Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GNAM)
- FOOD. Il gusto nell'arteCourtesy of Chiostro del Bramante
- Marina Abramović: Historical Works and Transforming EnergyCourtesy of La Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GNAM)
- Keith HaringCourtesy of Museo di Roma (Palazzo Braschi)
- Il Villaggio Olimpico di Roma. Il mondo in 300.000 mqVillaggio Olimpico di Roma, 1960. Collezione MAXXI Architettura e Design contemporaneo. Archivio Monaco-Luccichenti.
- FRONTIERE. The Geopolitics of Architecturephoto by Bai Yu
- Il potere del ritratto. Egitto e Roma. I volti del FayumCourtesy of Museo dell'Ara Pacis
- MAXXI Collection: RitrovarsiDetail from Daido Moriyama, Pretty Woman (2017), lambda print mounted on aluminium
- I Colori dell'Antico: Marmi Santarelli ai Musei CapitoliniCourtesy of Capitoline Museums
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