Let's have some fun. Exhibition ENJOY.

What do you get when you merge together an art gallery and an amusement park? Cloister of Bramante kindly answers this question by presenting 'Enjoy. Art meets Amusement' - surely, the most entertaining exhibition in Rome. Fifteen artists from all over the world, known to shock, inspire, trick and amaze, meet under one roof, tucked in the maze of narrow city streets, just a few steps away from Piazza Navona. 

I had a pleasure of visiting it couple of weeks ago, and never have I seen so many young people in one place, all admiring art (taking selfies with it). Since Cloister of Bramante is known to be the cool kid on the block when it comes to art galleries, taking pictures and videos inside is not frowned upon, on the contrary, it is encouraged. They even have an official hashtag #enjoychiostro, which presents endless feed of grownups remembering childhood, paying with red balloons or posing with oversized objects.
And yes, I was one of them.

Studio 65. Mickey dei sogni (eng. Mickey of the dreams).

Erwin Wurm. One minute sculptures. 

One frame is a mirror, the other - a way out. Good luck. 

Artists use space, sound and special effects to create their own version of reality. One in particular was exceptionally fun - visitors had to find their way through the labyrinth of mirrors and optical illusions. The installation, by the argentinian artist Leandro Erlich, at first, seems like a regular changing room hidden by the red curtain. Only when you step inside, you notice that something is off. Some mirrors are not actually there, they just lead you to the next, identical, changing room, which leads to the next one, and then the next one. This situation repeats until you get desperately lost among the disorienting reflections, give up looking for the exit, set up a camp for the night, meet other lost souls, get into long philosophical conversations with them about how we got here and how we will lead our lives differently if we ever got out.   

Anyhow, I was amazed by Erlich's ability to turn this relatively mundane environment - a changing room - into a dreamlike space. Actually, it made me feel as if I were inside the Christopher Nolan's film Inception. (Anyone who hasn't seen it yet, should fix this, immediately).

    

Lost in a labyrinth of Leandro Erlich's Changing Rooms.

After finally stepping out of the labyrinth of mirrors, I walked straight into a house of horrors. As you do. I was standing in a completely dark corridor where the only source of light were the huge glowing eyes hanging from the ceiling. Oh, have I mentioned, those were moving and blinking eyes. 

Our next artist, Tony Oursler, uses video projections of eyes onto large spheres to remind us that we live in the age of surveillance and social media. I highly value contemporary art which corresponds to our present-day reality. This installation made me think about Edward Snowden's leaks, revealing how apps on our phones are constantly spying on us, and information about us is gathered on a larger scale than anyone suspected. This aspect of our culture is unnerving and therefore this room is constructed to make you feel accordingly. In short, the big brother is watching you. Sleep tight.

This is the stuff nightmares are made of.

Thank goodness for the next room, which was dedicated to brazilian Ernesto Neto, an artist known for his meditative sculptures, bringing closer together people and nature. The centrepiece was a welcoming hammock. I could actually lay down in it and swing calmly until the image of spooky eyes faded from my memory. 
Next up was Martin Creed's room, generously filled with the red balloons. The queue to get in was longer than outside a club on a friday night. Children and adults alike were eager to going in and play. Balloons were flying left and right, while gallery assistants struggled relentlessly to keep them from pouring out through the door. 
Meaning of Creed's artwork is amplified by the contact with the public. In an interview with Miranda Sawyer for The Guardian he said "Art is just things in the world, usually an arrangement of colour and shapes. It's people who have the feelings and the reactions." This is the idea that 'Enjoy' is putting forward - to redefine the relationship between the art and the public. 

15 minutes of fame as a part of an art installation. 

99 Luftballons are safely contained for now

There were many other impressive artworks achieving the impossible. Italians Piero Fogliati presents brightly painted shadows, and Gino de Dominicis - the invisible art installation, composed entirely of the sound of laughter. Artist from Britain Matt Collishaw revives the Victorian-era predecessor of film - the zoetrope to create a moving sculpture made of paradise birds flapping their wings around continuously blooming flowers. It doesn't fail to capture your attention, in fact, the spectacle of shapes and colours is so hypnotic that it is hard to look away. 

Mat Collishaw. The Centrifugal Soul.

Painted shadows of Piero Fogliati. Prisma Meccanico 

A cherry on top of this thrilling exhibition is the Flowers and People - Dark, an art piece by Teamlab, who describe themselves as an interdisciplinary group of professionals marrying together science and technology with art and creativity. And I have to tell you, the result is stunning.
This time I was looking at the digital painting of flowers, which sprout, grow, bloom, and inevitably scatter their shining petals before vanishing out of sight. This life cycle reacts to the number of people in the room and their vicinity to the screen. When the room is empty, only lone buds decorate the painting, but when a artwork "senses" your presence prepare for  the spectacle of  lights and colour.

There are many other artists I haven't mentioned, I'll leave it as a surprise for you to discover.

ENJOY. Art meets Amusement welcomes visitors until the 25th of February, 2018.

Adress: Chiostro del Bramante. Via della Pace, Roma

https://www.chiostrodelbramante.it/

Exploring the Italian countryside

Exploring the countryside is definitely one of my favourite activities in this boot-shaped country. Just outside the ancient city walls of Rome there are too many beautiful places to count, from picture -perfect villages resting on the Apennine mountains, grand gorges, to lakes and rivers interrupted by occasional waterfalls. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that sometimes everything looks so unrealistically beautiful that I feel as if I've gotten lost in some sort of enchanted forest, just without unicorns or witches hiding inside the candy huts. Still, it is not rare to run into some friendly horses nibbling the grass; and when it comes to witches here in Italy things are different from the grim northern European counterparts. The Italian witch is called the Befana and her sole purpose in life is to bring candy to children on the 5th of January. Some things are just better in Italy.

Trevi waterfall (Not to be confused with Trevi fountain)

The world turns brightly yellow around November. 

It's a long way down from here

After moving to Rome, I was lucky enough to explore the little less known parts of the central Italy in a company of well-organized guides who know what they are doing and where they are going. This was definitely a lovely change for me. My early days as a hiker weren't most conventional, let's put it this way. The first time I decided to try out the mountain hiking alone, I was chased by wild boars, got myself stranded in the least accessible village in the country, witnessed a local religious festival and ended up sleeping in a church - but that's a story for another time.

The "Pathfinders" as our little club is called, are made up from Italian locals and expats seeking to colour their weekends with some minor escapades. I take great pleasure in the excursions with them. Firstly, you never know what group of people will show up, and you always end up befriending people wouldn't have met under normal circumstances. They are people from all walks of life with some fascinating stories to tell which I am happy to listen to while enjoying a day out in nature.

My beautiful Lithuania

Coming from Lithuania, a spectacularly green country which prides itself on its legendary woods, countless lakes and rivers, I do feel irresistibly drawn to nature. To be honest, in a way it makes me feel a bit closer to home. Nevertheless, my homeland is known to be quite flat despite some baby hills here and there. Probably this is the reason why I find mountains to be exceptionally attractive, exotic even. Hence, Italy scores another point.

My weekend hikes are always a surprising experience. I rarely do in-depth research about the locations we are about to visit before signing up to the excursion, but I like the fact of not knowing what will lie ahead.

Some paths we take are perfect for peaceful meditation - strolling down the wooded hills along clear streams, listening to the soothing sounds of running water. And then, occasionally you need cling to rope for your dear life while sliding down steep slopes, crawl across narrow and slippery mountain paths, cross rivers balancing from one shaky rock to another or jump over spiky fences. It's all good fun and at the end of the day you get a sense of achievement.

In my opinion, the Italian countryside could also be called a 'Nature Museum'. At every turn you can find crumbling remnants of the past and observe how nature slowly swallows up medieval bridges, mills, walls and all sorts of ancient ruins. However, if the idea of a museum makes you yawn, it is also not unusual for us to find mysterious caves with bats peacefully snoozing above heads.

During my last hike, a curious situation presented itself - I have seen hell. Literally. So, here's the 

story, I was trekking in the woods with my group of "Pathfinders" around the village of Jenne, which offers some stunning panoramic views to the lands of Lazio. After we had a well-deserved lunch in the mountains, we reached a cave that didn't seem all too different from the other caves I've seen.

Boy, was I wrong.

Down the rabbit hole we go.

At the beginning, it didn't look like the most exciting part of the day until I've noticed a narrow opening in the ground leading somewhere interesting. It made me realise that we were all only standing  in the lobby of the cave that goes way down to the depths of the earth. A large portion of the group decided to stay behind when we were offered to take a look at what's there. I had no idea how deep, steep or dangerous it would be, so naturally I grabbed the rope and steadily made my way down to the unknown.

The Grotta Inferniglio, as it is accurately named, literally translates into the Cave of Little Hell. The legend has it that it was called so, because of the eerie atmosphere created by the strange rock formations and underground lakes, which flood the entire place from time to time. An unfortunate town nearby was named after the Inferniglio Cave which gave the name 'Gehenna,' nowadays known as Jenne; it is another ancient word for a place of eternal suffering, what seems to be a bit harsh on a little Italian mountain village.

There was nothing but darkness. All I could make out was that I was surrounded by wet and uneven surfaces, generously carved with holes going nowhere as far as I could tell. Falling down a hell cave is not my idea of a great weekend, so I was gripping the rope with both of my hands which made it nearly impossible to use a flashlight. I was kindly guided by the light of my companions as we slowly moved forward. Sometime during our slow procession, there was an unusual commotion. Something of great importance was being spotted. It was a worm of some sorts. It got plenty of attention and a photoshoot. Apparently, years ago two new species of cave beetles had been discovered here in this very cave, but let's not get into that. After plenty of climbing and sliding, we appreciated the otherworldly beauty of the underground sitting on what appeared to be a melted stone, surrounded by stalactites stretching from the ceiling. The thing is that I really enjoy experiencing the unfamiliar environments and this was definitely that. I can relate to the characters from Jules Verne's 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' on a much deeper level now. Soon after, we came out into the daylight which was glorious. It felt like I have walked through hell and back. Quite a memorable weekend.

Welcome to Hell Cave

For anyone interested how hell looks like there are quite a few videos on youtube showing small groups of brave souls going down Inferniglio like this one. 

November in Rome

November in Rome is the month when you finally realise that summer-like weather doesn't last forever even in this sunny city. Just two weeks ago I didn't need a jacket to go out and I could barely remember the last time I witnessed a cloudy day. Rome itself seemed to be breathing heat, I think it has a lot to do with the general warmth and joyfulness of people who live here.
Nevertheless, Autumn is officially here!
Changing of the seasons is announced quite dramatically (everything here is) with rolling thunderstorms and heavy rains. It is as if someone suddenly turned off the heating and normal daily temperature of 20 - 25 degrees Celsius suddenly dropped. Instantly you need to remember where all your warm clothes ended up, rearrange the closet and maybe even buy an umbrella.

After living in Cardiff named the rainiest city of Britain for three years straight 
I kind of got immune to the rain. 

As a person who is quite changeable regarding my living location I don't tend to hold on to stuff, some things must be left behind and some are just lost. After my last move I can't seem to find my autumn boots which would have been very useful yesterday while I was swimming around the flooded streets of Rome. I am pretty sure they are lying around somewhere in Florence, where I previously lived, forgotten and lonely.  #nomadproblems

9th of November. Autumn is officially here. 

Rome becomes notably more yellow in November. I find that Villa Ada park is especially fit for appreciating the changing colours of the fall. It is one of my favourite places in the city where you can get away from all the chaos and noise that are inseparable part of the true Roman experience. What else can you expect from a mega city with barely functioning public transportation system? Don't get me wrong I do love this city, even when the buses are on strike, and yes even when nothing seems to be working.

Villa Ada. 10th of November, 2017.

Misty morning today.

I really enjoy jogging in Villa Ada, it looks a lot wilder than other parks in Rome and it makes me feel as if I were far away from the city life. It is also quite dynamic; one minute you are strolling down a perfectly manicured path and the next it seems like you've got lost in a jungle. You have hidden paths, secret bunkers, beautiful neoclassical architecture and the fact that it served as a royal residency for Italian monarchs. Fancy.

However, if you ask me the best part about Villa Ada is the little squirrels running along the tops of those giant stone pines throwing nuts down at the passers by. I swear this is true.

Paths are perfect for jogging.

Right here during the summer months musical festival Villa Ada Roma incontra il Mondo (Villa Ada Roma meets the World) takes place.