Lavinia - Parte V. Quinto gusto pistacchio e lampone

Saâdane Afif’s work and performance Live in LAVINIA is at the center of the fifth phase of LAVINIA, the contemporary art project curated by Salvatore Lacagnina, produced by Ghella and promoted by Roma Capitale, Assessorato della Cultura, Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, in collaboration with Zètema Progetto Cultura.

Started in 2024, the project pays tribute to the late Mannerist painter Lavinia Fontana, one of the first female artists recognized by art history and featured in the Borghese Gallery collection, and runs parallel to the various phases of restoration of the Loggia dei Vini, the elegant pavilion built by Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the Villa Borghese gardens. Here he used to entertain his guests with wines and sorbets, and for this reason, every LAVINIA inauguration is associated with the creation of a new ice cream flavor. Pistachio and raspberry kick off the 2026 summer season.

Born in Vendôme but based in Berlin, Saâdane Afif is an interdisciplinary artist who uses a variety of expressive media (performance, objects, sculptures, texts), playing with elements from the history of art, music and poetry, and developing his works through collaborative processes. In Rome, Afif transforms the Loggia dei Vini into a rehearsal room. Musicians Federico Bisozzi and Simone Alessandrini will compose music for ten texts written by as many authors (Clara Meister, Deo Katunga, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Giulia Pollicita, Ina Blom, Jeanna Criscitiello, Marc Knauer, Nicolas Bourriaud, Shatha Afify, Ugnė Uma) for Live. This is an evolving work featuring posters of cultural events, which the artist uses as ready-mades and transforms into a narrative of a city’s cultural life, on display at the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin for the duration of the performance. The complete compositions will be presented to the public at the end of the exhibition period, narrated by Rosaria Angotti.

The new work joins those already created in previous phases of the project: Ruth Evans’s clock, Monika Sosnowska’s “Recinzione” for the railing and her handle for opening the entrance gate, Gianni Politi’s seats, Piero Golia’s infinite water fountain and Enzo Cucchi’s sculpture of a wolf, a sort of grate that offers a glimpse of the ancient nymphaeum. The projects is completed by Johanna Grawunder’s light installation along the retaining walls and Ross Birrell & David Harding’s “Dante Desire Line Poetry Path”, which guides visitors towards the Loggia.

Free admission; the Loggia is closed throughout August.

Photo Daniele Molajoli