Wanted in Rome interviews Alessio RosatiIn a city where culture is both heritage and living practice, understanding how Rome evolves requires voices that move between institutions and the ground. For this reason, Wanted in Rome spoke with Alessio Rosati, an architecture scholar and curator whose work sits at the intersection of architecture, contemporary art and cultural production.Based in Rome, Rosati has spent more than two decades working across design, research and exhibition-making, developing a practice that reflects on how space shapes cultural experience. He has collaborated with major institutions, including MAXXI – Italy’s National Museum of 21st Century Arts, contributing to exhibitions, publications and curatorial projects focused on the relationship between architecture and contemporary culture. Alongside his institutional work, Rosati has engaged with independent spaces, foundations and public bodies, combining critical thinking with hands-on project development. His work offers a lens through which to read Rome today, a city rich in cultural energy yet marked by deep structural contrasts. How would you describe the current state of culture in Rome? Today, culture in Rome appears as a highly vibrant field, albeit deeply uneven. The city resembles an archipelago, alternating between “islands” of rich traditional offerings and major events, and areas marked by strong territorial imbalances and ongoing demands for inclusion and renewal. A recent cultural map of Rome shows that over 1,600 cultural venues are concentrated in the historic centre, while more than half of the city’s districts are almost entirely lacking in museums, cinemas, theatres or libraries. In many peripheral areas there is a shortage of stable infrastructure and continuous programming, despite attempts at regeneration, such as the former Mattatoio, and the spread of festivals across various neighbourhoods. Alongside institutional infrastructure, there is a very lively and transversal cultural scene, with independent spaces reflecting a more fragmented city that is less easily governed from above. These realities make use of interstitial spaces such as abandoned buildings, parks and public areas, but suffer from precarious conditions, uncertain funding and a governance that struggles to interpret grassroots creative change. Rome is undoubtedly a growing cultural metropolis, but a highly polarised one, with strong demand for access, participation and social inclusion, and an infrastructure that remains concentrated, hierarchical and territorially uneven. The critical issue is not a lack of initiatives, but the difficulty of building permanent, distributed systems across the city that can stabilise this vibrancy. What are, in your view, the main strengths of Rome’s cultural system? Rome’s cultural system today presents several solid physical and symbolic realities that coexist with weaknesses and contradictions. Its most evident strengths are the richness of its heritage, the infrastructural density of the historic centre, its international appeal, and the vitality of grassroots creativity. And what are the most evident challenges the city still struggles to address? As mentioned, Rome’s cultural landscape is dense but deeply affected by structural issues that have long been highlighted by scholars, associations and practitioners. The main fragilities concern territorial inequality, the precariousness of cultural professions, weak public policies, and a clear tension between heritage protection, tourism and urban development. In essence, despite its great potential, the system struggles to distribute resources fairly, stabilise creative work, plan in the medium to long term, and reconcile protection, access and urban development without sacrificing its social and civic dimension. What role do public institutions play today in promoting and managing culture in Rome? Public institutions play a central, though complex and at times contradictory, role in both the promotion and management of culture. They act as regulators and funders, but also as curators and custodians of spaces and heritage. Responsibilities are shared across the Ministry, the Municipality, local districts and heritage authorities, alongside the additional influence of Vatican institutions. Do you think Rome is investing enough in culture, both economically and strategically? Rome is investing more in culture today than it did a few years ago. However, considering the city’s scale and vocation, many analysts still believe that spending remains insufficient and lacking a systemic approach. From a strategic perspective, there are signs of improved planning, including multi-year funding programmes and decentralisation projects. However, the vision remains fragmented and too tied to events and seasonality, rather than to a long-term, structural cultural policy. How difficult is it today for a cultural professional to work and grow in Rome? For cultural professionals, working and growing in Rome today is very difficult, though not impossible. The city remains a dense hub of opportunities, visibility and networks, but also one of the clearest examples of precariousness, discontinuity and competitive pressure. Rome offers strong formative opportunities and international exposure, but the costs of entry, tolerance of precarious work and level of competition remain high. Building a career in the cultural sector almost always requires years of unpaid or underpaid work, along with reliable networks and strong personal resilience. Rome has a unique historical heritage. Is this more an advantage or sometimes a limitation for contemporary culture? The reality of Rome lies precisely in the tension between historical heritage and contemporary culture. Its extraordinary heritage is undoubtedly a major advantage, but if not managed with imagination and foresight, it can also become a limitation for contemporary cultural development. The issue is not the heritage itself, but its governance. If institutions are able to make it available for innovation, inclusion and research, rather than limiting it to tourism and spectacle, then heritage becomes fertile ground for contemporary culture rather than a constraint. What is the relationship between “high” culture and more accessible or popular culture in the city? The relationship between “high” and more accessible or popular culture is layered and often unbalanced. The city has a strong tradition of institutional and scholarly culture, while at the same time a more widespread, festive, neighbourhood-based and digital culture is growing, often without meaningful dialogue between the two. The real challenge is to move beyond this binary and build practices in which museums, institutions and heritage spaces genuinely engage with urban, neighbourhood and youth cultures, without relegating them to secondary roles. More open and flexible approaches should be adopted, similar to those of Renato Nicolini and the Estate Romana, while recognising the obvious differences in historical context. How international is Rome’s cultural scene today? Does it truly engage with the rest of the world? Rome’s cultural scene is increasingly outward-looking, with exhibitions, festivals and events structured within global circuits. However, this international dimension remains concentrated in a limited number of prestigious institutions and spaces. The city attracts global attention, but does not always translate this dialogue into everyday cultural life, particularly in peripheral areas and local communities. Rome does not yet function as a true “platform city” where institutions, independent spaces and neighbourhoods interact continuously with the global context. The challenge is to ensure that internationalisation becomes a widespread, participatory network of relationships, rather than simply a mark of prestige. What role can private actors, foundations and independent initiatives play in the city’s cultural development? Private actors, foundations and independent initiatives play a decisive role in Rome, yet are often undervalued and insufficiently integrated into the broader cultural system. They are capable of innovation and experimentation, filling gaps left by fragmented public policies and sometimes slow institutional frameworks. However, their impact is often dispersed or concentrated in limited circuits. Does Rome adequately support and promote its talent, especially younger generations? Young people are often those who find opportunities to emerge, but the system still struggles to support them in a stable, fair and widespread way, relying instead on episodic rather than systemic recognition. The city offers networks, funding calls, independent spaces and dedicated projects, but these often remain short-lived or confined to limited circuits and central areas. Rome produces and discovers many young talents, but struggles to turn them into sustainable, inclusive and geographically distributed careers. Which recent projects or initiatives do you find most interesting or promising? Rome hosts several initiatives that, although still experimental or limited, appear promising because they combine support for young people, international openness and engagement with peripheral or unconventional spaces. Examples include 6Artista, organised by Fondazione Pastificio Cerere in collaboration with the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, NABA and RUFA. Another example is Spazio Taverna, which combines exhibitions, events and educational activities. More institutional is Movin’Up, a residency programme for artists under 35 organised by Informagiovani Roma, connecting the local scene with international networks. At a more local level, the resurgence of small independent social centres is also significant. Paradoxically, these often self-funded spaces take the greatest risks and provide room for more radical artistic experimentation. The challenge is ensuring these initiatives do not remain isolated “islands”, but become part of a stable, distributed cultural system capable of engaging peripheral areas and fragile cultural professions. How does tourism influence culture in Rome? Is it an opportunity or a risk? Tourism is fundamental to Rome’s cultural life, but it becomes an opportunity only if it is transformed into resources, educational programmes, accessible spaces for residents, and forms of local participation. Otherwise, it risks being reduced to a purely logistical and economic flow centred on a handful of monuments and events. Looking ahead, what should be the priority to make Rome a more dynamic cultural city? The priority should be to build a truly distributed and inclusive cultural system, rather than one concentrated in the historic centre and a few major events. Strategically, Rome should move from being a “showcase city” to a “laboratory city”, a network of spaces, people and cultural practices that are sustainable and interconnected, where heritage engages with contemporary culture and local communities actively shape cultural life. If you imagine Rome in ten years, what kind of cultural scene would you like to see? I would like to see a much more widespread, vibrant and participatory cultural scene, where culture is not just a showcase for tourism but a daily dimension of urban life. A city where museums and monuments truly engage with neighbourhoods, peripheral areas and hybrid spaces, where artists, educators, scholars and residents collaborate on local projects, cultural gardens, repurposed industrial spaces and multifunctional centres. Rather than being confined to isolated “islands” of excellence, culture would become a network of practices, with libraries as laboratories, performance spaces, urban regeneration hubs, all interconnected and accessible. Ultimately, I would like a Rome where culture is dense but not oppressive, visible but not only monumental, international yet deeply local, a true “laboratory city” where culture becomes a way of living together, transforming spaces and imagining new forms of coexistence beyond tourism and major events.  

In a city where culture is both heritage and living practice, understanding how Rome evolves requires voices that move between institutions and the ground. For this reason, Wanted in Rome spoke with Alessio Rosati, an architecture scholar and curator whose work sits at the intersection of architecture, contemporary art and cultural production. Based in Rome, Rosati has spent more than two decades working across design, research and exhibition-making, developing a practice that reflects on how space shapes cultural experience. He has collaborated with major institutions, including MAXXI – Italy’s National Museum of 21st Century Arts, contributing to exhibitions, publications and curatorial projects focused on the relationship between architecture and contemporary culture. Alongside his institutional work, Rosati has engaged with independent spaces, foundations and public bodies, combining critical thinking with hands-on project development. His work offers a lens through which to read Rome today, a city rich in cultural energy yet marked by deep structural contrasts. Today, culture in Rome appears as a highly vibrant field, albeit deeply uneven. The city resembles an archipelago, alternating between “islands” of rich traditional offerings and major events, and areas marked by strong territorial imbalances and ongoing demands for inclusion and renewal. A recent cultural map of Rome shows that over 1,600 cultural venues are concentrated in the historic centre, while more than half of the city’s districts are almost entirely lacking in museums, cinemas, theatres or libraries. In many peripheral areas there is a shortage of stable infrastructure and continuous programming, despite attempts at regeneration, such as the former Mattatoio, and the spread of festivals across various neighbourhoods. Alongside institutional infrastructure, there is a very lively and transversal cultural scene, with independent spaces reflecting a more fragmented city that is less easily governed from above. These realities make use of interstitial spaces such as abandoned buildings, parks and public areas, but suffer from precarious conditions, uncertain funding and a governance that struggles to interpret grassroots creative change. Rome is undoubtedly a growing cultural metropolis, but a highly polarised one, with strong demand for access, participation and social inclusion, and an infrastructure that remains concentrated, hierarchical and territorially uneven. The critical issue is not a lack of initiatives, but the difficulty of building permanent, distributed systems across the city that can stabilise this vibrancy. Rome’s cultural system today presents several solid physical and symbolic realities that coexist with weaknesses and contradictions. Its most evident strengths are the richness of its heritage, the infrastructural density of the historic centre, its international appeal, and the vitality of grassroots creativity. As mentioned, Rome’s cultural landscape is dense but deeply affected by structural issues that have long been highlighted by scholars, associations and practitioners. The main fragilities concern territorial inequality, the precariousness of cultural professions, weak public policies, and a clear tension between heritage protection, tourism and urban development. In essence, despite its great potential, the system struggles to distribute resources fairly, stabilise creative work, plan in the medium to long term, and reconcile protection, access and urban development without sacrificing its social and civic dimension. Public institutions play a central, though complex and at times contradictory, role in both the promotion and management of culture. They act as regulators and funders, but also as curators and custodians of spaces and heritage. Responsibilities are shared across the Ministry, the Municipality, local districts and heritage authorities, alongside the additional influence of Vatican institutions. Rome is investing more in culture today than it did a few years ago. However, considering the city’s scale and vocation, many analysts still believe that spending remains insufficient and lacking a systemic approach. From a strategic perspective, there are signs of improved planning, including multi-year funding programmes and decentralisation projects. However, the vision remains fragmented and too tied to events and seasonality, rather than to a long-term, structural cultural policy. For cultural professionals, working and growing in Rome today is very difficult, though not impossible. The city remains a dense hub of opportunities, visibility and networks, but also one of the clearest examples of precariousness, discontinuity and competitive pressure. Rome offers strong formative opportunities and international exposure, but the costs of entry, tolerance of precarious work and level of competition remain high. Building a career in the cultural sector almost always requires years of unpaid or underpaid work, along with reliable networks and strong personal resilience. The reality of Rome lies precisely in the tension between historical heritage and contemporary culture. Its extraordinary heritage is undoubtedly a major advantage, but if not managed with imagination and foresight, it can also become a limitation for contemporary cultural development. The issue is not the heritage itself, but its governance. If institutions are able to make it available for innovation, inclusion and research, rather than limiting it to tourism and spectacle, then heritage becomes fertile ground for contemporary culture rather than a constraint. The relationship between “high” and more accessible or popular culture is layered and often unbalanced. The city has a strong tradition of institutional and scholarly culture, while at the same time a more widespread, festive, neighbourhood-based and digital culture is growing, often without meaningful dialogue between the two. The real challenge is to move beyond this binary and build practices in which museums, institutions and heritage spaces genuinely engage with urban, neighbourhood and youth cultures, without relegating them to secondary roles. More open and flexible approaches should be adopted, similar to those of Renato Nicolini and the Estate Romana, while recognising the obvious differences in historical context. Rome’s cultural scene is increasingly outward-looking, with exhibitions, festivals and events structured within global circuits. However, this international dimension remains concentrated in a limited number of prestigious institutions and spaces. The city attracts global attention, but does not always translate this dialogue into everyday cultural life, particularly in peripheral areas and local communities. Rome does not yet function as a true “platform city” where institutions, independent spaces and neighbourhoods interact continuously with the global context. The challenge is to ensure that internationalisation becomes a widespread, participatory network of relationships, rather than simply a mark of prestige. Private actors, foundations and independent initiatives play a decisive role in Rome, yet are often undervalued and insufficiently integrated into the broader cultural system. They are capable of innovation and experimentation, filling gaps left by fragmented public policies and sometimes slow institutional frameworks. However, their impact is often dispersed or concentrated in limited circuits. Young people are often those who find opportunities to emerge, but the system still struggles to support them in a stable, fair and widespread way, relying instead on episodic rather than systemic recognition. The city offers networks, funding calls, independent spaces and dedicated projects, but these often remain short-lived or confined to limited circuits and central areas. Rome produces and discovers many young talents, but struggles to turn them into sustainable, inclusive and geographically distributed careers. Rome hosts several initiatives that, although still experimental or limited, appear promising because they combine support for young people, international openness and engagement with peripheral or unconventional spaces. Examples include 6Artista, organised by Fondazione Pastificio Cerere in collaboration with the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, NABA and RUFA. Another example is Spazio Taverna, which combines exhibitions, events and educational activities. More institutional is Movin’Up, a residency programme for artists under 35 organised by Informagiovani Roma, connecting the local scene with international networks. At a more local level, the resurgence of small independent social centres is also significant. Paradoxically, these often self-funded spaces take the greatest risks and provide room for more radical artistic experimentation. The challenge is ensuring these initiatives do not remain isolated “islands”, but become part of a stable, distributed cultural system capable of engaging peripheral areas and fragile cultural professions. Tourism is fundamental to Rome’s cultural life, but it becomes an opportunity only if it is transformed into resources, educational programmes, accessible spaces for residents, and forms of local participation. Otherwise, it risks being reduced to a purely logistical and economic flow centred on a handful of monuments and events. The priority should be to build a truly distributed and inclusive cultural system, rather than one concentrated in the historic centre and a few major events. Strategically, Rome should move from being a “showcase city” to a “laboratory city”, a network of spaces, people and cultural practices that are sustainable and interconnected, where heritage engages with contemporary culture and local communities actively shape cultural life. I would like to see a much more widespread, vibrant and participatory cultural scene, where culture is not just a showcase for tourism but a daily dimension of urban life. A city where museums and monuments truly engage with neighbourhoods, peripheral areas and hybrid spaces, where artists, educators, scholars and residents collaborate on local projects, cultural gardens, repurposed industrial spaces and multifunctional centres. Rather than being confined to isolated “islands” of excellence, culture would become a network of practices, with libraries as laboratories, performance spaces, urban regeneration hubs, all interconnected and accessible. Ultimately, I would like a Rome where culture is dense but not oppressive, visible but not only monumental, international yet deeply local, a true “laboratory city” where culture becomes a way of living together, transforming spaces and imagining new forms of coexistence beyond tourism and major events.