Marinella Senatore: A Year of Participatory Art at Rome's GNAMC

The National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art (GNAMC) in Rome continues its innovative "Artist at GNAMC" format, an initiative that moves beyond traditional temporary exhibitions to establish a prolonged and significant artistic presence within the museum. Conceived by director Renata Cristina Mazzantini and launched with Emilio Isgrò in 2024, followed by Mario Ceroli, the program invites an artist to dedicate a year to transforming a museum hall into a dynamic laboratory of expression. For the 2026 edition, the choice has fallen on Marinella Senatore, a prominent figure in contemporary participatory art. From April 28 to December 31, 2026, her presence will be the cornerstone of a project that inseparably intertwines exhibition and relational dimensions.

The dedicated room will host over 40 of Senatore's works, including drawings, collages, and tapestries. Beyond her well-known performative and participatory practice, the exhibition will highlight her reflection on landscape and weaving as processes of collective construction. Drawings from the "It's Time to Go Back to the Street" series visualize choreographies that spread through urban spaces, while collages from "The Creation of a Context" synthesize narratives and words that emerged from her workshops.

A central element will be the monumental tapestries from the "In The Theatre of Commons" series, a collaboration with the Chanakya School of Craft in Mumbai, where textile art becomes a powerful metaphor for negotiation between the individual and the collective. The installation will be further enriched by the luminous sculpture "Remember The First Time You Saw Your Name," a work that revisits the theme of recognition and the emergence of individual identity within collective contexts, a recurring motif in Senatore's artistic language.

What distinguishes the GNAMC format is not merely the selection of works, but primarily how they are brought to life. The room will transform into a genuine operational hub, animated by workshops, lectures, meetings, and shared work sessions that will unfold throughout the year. The aim is to actively engage not only the museum's regular audience but also students, communities, and groups often less represented in cultural circuits. The program's opening, with the "Io contengo moltitudini" (I contain multitudes) event on April 28, addressed to students of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, underscores this approach, promoting the body, movement, and listening as fundamental tools for knowledge and participation.