ROME – Artrooms, the international fair for independent, contemporary artists, will visit Rome for the first time between Friday and Sunday, with the work of around 100 artists taking over parts of The Church Palace Hotel and providing a unique setting for artists to display their work.

 The event will be a must-see for art lovers in the capital, having never previously left London where the event began life in 2015. It provides free exhibition space for independent artists, unlike many fairs which charge for the privilege.

 However, those spaces come with a twist, since the organisers have taken over individual hotel rooms, the garden and hallways in the hope of presenting work in a more exciting light. The fair will fall into three sections: a sculpture park, the hotel’s rooms and a Video Art area.

 Cristina Cellini Antonini and Francesco Fanneli, the Founders and Directors of Artrooms, were keen to emphasise the difference in the approach of Artrooms to other fairs at a press conference on Tuesday.

 Speaking to the Insider, Mr Fanelli underlined that most fairs charged “a few hundred pounds for white booths, which is not the right way to promote a connection between the artist and the art lover.”

 Artrooms, he stated, has a more “bespoke setting that allows visitors to really breathe the artist’s vibe.”

 Following the conference, journalists were treated to one of the most interactive pieces on display, a hologram performance of the illusionist Erix Logan and the singer and actress, Sara Maya.  

 Most of the artists to be featured were chosen after a public call for submissions, with over 2000 entries from across the globe this year for both the Rome and London editions. The curators have also invited a number of artists to display their work alongside those selected.

 Gianfranco Valleriani, the curator of the Video Art section, praised the format of the show, in contrast to “some art fairs which are like a supermarket, with lists of works and artists sitting in a corner.”

 Speaking of the video installations he curated, Mr Valleriani, said visitors would find a whole variety of different approaches, “some have used film collage, others the latest digital technology, and still others very simple techniques such as filming on smart phones.”

 Nonetheless, he argued that the thread through all of the pieces was an emphasis on the body. “That might be the physical body,” he said, “or the body more generally as identity and social culture.”

 Pietro di Pierri, CEO of The Church Resort, said they worked hard to turn “this architectural marvel into an artistic confusion. I use the term confusion because in this direction we have dreamed, worked and created our vision of beauty and of welcome.”

 At the press conference, Ms Cellini Antonini said it “was a very easy decision” to bring the event to Rome, as both her and Mr Fanelli hail from the city. However, she told the gathered press that the city still came with a certain “fear” given its artistic heritage.

 Details and tickets for Artrooms can be found at: https://roma.artroomsfairs.com

 Artrooms, March 2-4, The Church Palace, Via Aurelia 481, 00165 Roma. 

 tw