Spaccio Arte: Rome's Suburb Revitalization Project Debuts as a Flop

On April 10 and 11, 2021, the itinerant project Spaccio Arte launched in Rome's San Basilio and Ostia districts, aiming to bring culture to the city's peripheries through eight stages. Organized with support from Zètema Progetto Cultura and Atac, promoted by Roma Capitale, and championed by anti-mafia journalist Federica Angeli, the initiative featured a double-decker bus playing Roman folk songs to combat economic marginalization and organized crime. However, the first two stops were widely deemed failures, with sparse crowds and little resident engagement. Drug dealers simply vacated the area during the brief event and returned afterward. Critics, including writer Christian Raimo, called the project grotesque and insulting, accusing Angeli of bypassing local cultural assessors. Mayor Virginia Raggi's rhetoric of 'fighting ugliness with beauty' was also criticized as hollow without systemic action against crime. A June event is planned across all eight squares with theater, soccer, book readings, and poetry, pending COVID-19 regulations.