FONS OLEI has been created to promote and assist Roman and International artists by providing them a platform to showcase their work and spark constructive discussions about the relationship with nature and humankind.

Rome played an essential role in the 1950s and 1960s in performative art where public spaces were an important tool in an artist’s work. We are taking the baton by offering a similar opportunity to artists to once again use a public space for performative art.

Our first endeavor is the Supernova project, which will take place in Rome, over the course of 3 years (2023–2026).
Supernova’s primary focus is to provide a cornerstone for cultural activities to be held in its physical space, the piazza of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Its core mission is to bring culture back to the piazza and vibrating far beyond that geographical position. The dynamic project is structured around our relationship with nature, to reignite the curiosity and the deep human interconnection with the sense of purpose that art and culture provides us.

Over three years we will examine three macro topics that will be dissected and discussed throughout each year: Empathy/ Nature –Intimacy/ Nature – Loneliness / Nature.

Twelve major shows, three months each, will be curated by selected artists that will explore the surrounding environment and the topic in question with critical and creative eyes.

Each exhibition will navigate different mediums utilizing the piazza as the stage or performance space. We encourage the artists to communicate with the environment and engage the community.

Supporting events and exhibitions will be organized during this period, with the objective to bring together various artistic forms into one arena.

The Supernova project will be shaped by dance, performance, poetry, cinema, sound art, sculpture, painting, photography, and highlighted with social events such as dinners, readings, screenings, roundtable discussions and workshops.

In June 2023, Supernova presented it’s first exhibition by Fabio Mauri, a prominent Italian artist of the 1960s. The exhibit was part of the series ‘Without’, a performative piece that utilized a 16mm film projector, screening into a bucket full of milk. The surreal aspect of the piece sparked a discussion on the importance of the simplicity of the everyday object and its multiple uses. The attending public has responded with overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Passersby were engaged with the piece and were caught off guard surprised to see an art work in a busy piazza. This engagement was exactly what we had hoped to happen.

We are concentrating our efforts, in a proactive and supportive way to enable underrepresented creatives by offering an outlet, a space, a community to showcase their work and be part of a dialogue between other creatives and the public.