French ecclesiastical institution opens bocal art space in Rome

The Pieux Établissements de la France à Rome, the institution managing French ecclesiastical properties in Rome under Fra Renaud Escande, is launching a new contemporary art space called bocal at Via di Santa Giovanna d’Arco 4. The space aims to showcase artistic research supported by the institution and foster site-specific collaborations. Its inaugural exhibition, "Preziosa," curated by Isabella Vitale, runs from November 19, 2025, to February 20, 2026, featuring works by Alix Boillot and Mercedes Klausner. Boillot presents the video performance "Grace" (2023), created during her residency at Villa Medici, and the object "L'Éternité (collier)" from a performance activated on November 21 during the Arte in Nuvola fair, where performer Maria Piera Fusi transforms tears into a cathartic gesture. Klausner's research focuses on the Acquedotto Felice and graffiti from 1973 on shacks demolished in 1972, resulting in "La maison de l'aqueduc," developed during her residency at Studio Wicar in 2024 after winning the Premio Wicar. The institution previously supported Boillot's "Giravolte" (2025), made with coins from the Trevi Fountain in collaboration with Caritas Roma, now in the collection and installed at Palazzo di San Luigi dei Francesi, also shown at Villa Medici's "Luoghi Sacri Condivisi."