LAVINIA at Villa Borghese: third edition

Jimmie Durham and Monika Sosnowska
still onview: Ross Birrell & David Harding, Enzo Cucchi, Piero Golia, Johanna Grawunder, Gianni Politi

curated by Salvatore Lacagnina

Jimmie Durham and Monika Sosnowska are the featured artists in the third chapter of LAVINIA, the contemporary art program curated by Salvatore Lacagnina, developed by Ghella, and promoted by Roma Capitale – Department of Culture, and the Capitoline Superintendency for Cultural Heritage. The initiative accompanies the restoration of the Loggia dei Vini, nestled in the heart of Rome’s Villa Borghese.

Adding a special touch to the opening is an ice cream celebrating summer: mango and black sesame.

In the early 1600s, when the Loggia dei Vini was built at the request of Scipione Borghese (between 1609 and 1618), wines and sorbets were served there. In honour of this tradition, each LAVINIA opening is paired with a seasonal ice cream flavour.

Named to pay homage to Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614) — one of the first women recognized by the canons of art history and featured in the Galleria Borghese collection — LAVINIA unfolds alongside the restoration of this 17th-century architectural gem. The restoration is being carried out by R.O.M.A. Consorzio, under the scientific supervision of the Capitoline Superintendency and made possible thanks to a donation from Ghella.

The work of Jimmie Durham (1940–2021), a key figure in international contemporary art, will take centre stage in the loggia. A multidisciplinary artist, Durham’s practice spans sculpture, installation, and writing, approaching themes like identity, power, history, and language with a critical and often ironic eye. Created for this new phase of LAVINIA, Jimmie Durham: And Now, So Far In The Future That No One Will Recognize Any Of My Jokes (revisited) is a reimagined version of a project originally conceived in 2022 for the Fondazione Morra Greco in Naples. It presents a layered and oblique narrative of his artistic journey and critical thought. The installation brings together sculptures from the Fondazione Morra Greco’s collection, objects, and books from Durham’s personal library (selected by Maria Thereza Alves), videos and documents, all in conversation with selected poems from his writings translated into Italian by Sacha Piersanti. The work shines a light on Durham’s interest in language and architecture, viewed as a normative framework.

Recinzione (2025) is the piece created by Monika Sosnowska (1972) for the Loggia’s railing, transforming this functional architectural element into a site-specific sculpture. The work explores the relationship between permanence and transformation. Sosnowska’s sculptural practice—already present at the Loggia’s gate from the first phase of LAVINIA—is rooted in the appropriation and manipulation of construction materials such as steel beams, concrete, rebar, and pipes, which are stripped of their original function to take on new formal identities.

These two new site-specific works join those already presented in the project’s first and second phases: the entrance handle by Monika Sosnowska, the seating by Gianni Politi (which will be revisited for the occasion), Piero Golia’s endlessly flowing water fountain, and Enzo Cucchi’s she-wolf sculpture, a kind of grate offering a glimpse into the old nymphaeum. Completing the itinerary are Johanna Grawunder’s luminous installation, which wrap the retaining walls in light, and the Dante Desire Line Poetry Path by Ross Birrell & David Harding, which accompanies visitors with Dante’s words as they make their way to the Loggia.

LAVINIA is a three-year initiative running in tandem with the restoration process. It invites the visitors of Villa Borghese to rediscover overlooked spaces and reimagine the timeless dialogue between art and architecture from a contemporary perspective.

LAVINIA
Loggia dei vini, Villa Borghese
Access from via Pinciana 18
00197 Rome

OPENING TIMES 
Thursday–Friday, 2.00pm–7.00pm
Saturday–Sunday, 11.00am–7.00pm
August closed

CONTACT 
laviniaroma.com
info@laviniaroma.com
Instagram

Photo credits Daniele Molajoli and Paolo Fusco