October 19 – October 25
Following the success of its tenth edition, Rome Art Week 2026 is shaping up to be one of the largest and most closely followed events on the capital’s artistic and cultural calendar. One week before the start (with registration still open), 171 galleries and institutions have signed up. In addition to opening their spaces so visitors can enjoy current exhibitions, they will organize one or more events presenting their vision of contemporary art to the public free of charge. They will be joined by 644 artists and 7 collectives, who will present their research in their studios or take part in project events or gallery exhibitions, and 70 curators, who will organize events and exhibitions offering insight into their curatorial practice. A total of 422 events have already been published, including exhibitions, open studios and other events.
After eleven years of a continuous presence in Rome’s cultural life, the 2026 edition confirms its partnership with the Department for Major Events of Roma Capitale and the Department of Culture, as well as its collaboration with numerous municipal districts of Roma Capitale. These partnerships demonstrate how firmly the initiative is now rooted in the city and among the professionals who work there and promote contemporary art in all its forms.
In collaboration with the 13th Municipal District, the opening evening of Rome Art Week will take place on Monday 19 October at the Auditorium Albergotti. The event aims not merely to present the festival, but to embody its authentic spirit: a gathering built through participation, dialogue and the simultaneous presence of many different voices in contemporary art. From 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., the presentation of the 2026 edition of Rome Art Week will be interwoven with 85 Seconds to Midnight – A Wish Against Extinction, a performance-action project curated by Roberta Melasecca. Artists active in Rome’s art scene will take turns throughout the evening with contributions and performances, including participatory works, gradually creating a shared collective experience: artisti innocenti, Monica Argentino, Ysabel Dehais, Francesca Di Ciaula, Cristiana Fasano, Paola Fatelli, Barbara Lalle, Melissa Lohman and Flavio Arcangeli, Nora Lux, and Silvia Stucky.
The project takes as its starting point the 85 seconds that symbolically separate us from midnight, and a question that concerns us all: what kind of future are we still capable of imagining? Wars, environmental crises, inequalities and profound social changes seem to be shrinking the space and time available to us. 85 Seconds to Midnight addresses this condition by bringing different voices together and giving art the opportunity to formulate questions, wishes, projects and visions. This plurality is precisely what makes the project representative of the spirit of Rome Art Week: no single contribution claims to exhaust the subject, and no artist is expected to represent it alone. The event takes shape through the sum of individual presences, their independence and, at the same time, their participation in a shared experience.
In response to the question “What can art do?”, RAW has offered a very simple answer over its eleven editions: bring people, ideas and energy into contact, and create collaborative communities and networks, as Marco Ancora also emphasized during the presentation.
The collaboration between Rome Art Week and the Italia Media Art Festival (IMAF), now in its third edition, continues this year. The open call dedicated to video art and video performance, entitled The Energy That Transforms Becomes Art, selected 15 works. They will be presented during RAW 2026 at the IMAF event, from 23 to 25 October at the Gazometro Ostiense as part of Maker Faire Rome, and at IMAF 2026’s major closing event, scheduled for 20–22 November at Palazzo Rospigliosi in Zagarolo.
RAW’s international outlook also continues to expand. Through the Budapest Artineris project, it is building a network designed to grow into other European cities. The first edition of the Hungarian event took place in Budapest from 21 to 27 September 2026, marking the Artineris network’s first expansion beyond Rome.
The platform also features major new developments. Alongside listing events in the extensive calendar and allowing users to browse profiles of all participants, it now lets users create their own MY RAW: a personalized route through Rome Art Week. Users can add events by clicking the heart icon on event profiles or in the calendar; their selections are then arranged chronologically to help them plan their art week. RAW PROXIMITY is also available, displaying events in the Rome Art Week programme ordered by distance from the user’s location. Another new feature is a WhatsApp channel that will share current initiatives and recommendations for the most interesting events while preserving users’ privacy.
The official website, www.romeartweek.com, therefore offers interactive maps, the complete calendar, profiles of all events and participants, selections by the Points of View, and details of the tours, with an integrated booking system.
To help the public navigate the wide range of offerings, two main tools will be available: the reviews and selections of the Points of View, and tours organized by RAW participants.
The 2026 Points of View—selected from among influential critics, curators, intellectuals and artists active in Rome—offer their own selections of events and participants, acting as a compass through the programme and providing a diversity of perspectives. They are Alberto Dambruoso, Antonio Pavolini, Averil Curci, Claudio Strinati, Claudio Zambianchi, Donatella Dentice di Accadia, Fabio Sindici, Filippo Perniola, Giovanni Albanese, Greta Alberta Tirlone, Lorenzo Canova, Luca Casagni Lippi, Maddalena Libertini, Manfredi Maretti, Marco Mancini, Marco Piccaluga, Maria Eugenia Cadeddu, Maria Giovanna Musso, Massimiliano Reggiani, Massimo Scaringella, Michela Becchis, Micol Di Veroli, Paola Litterio, Raffaele Quattrone, Roberta Melasecca, Roberto Gramiccia, Simone Marsibilio, Tiziana Lo Porto and Wonderlust.
The Tours are guided routes organized by area or theme. They take small groups of visitors to artists’ studios and exhibition spaces, bringing the themes of contemporary art into dialogue with the city’s architectural and historical itineraries.
RAW is therefore a comprehensive, real-time map of contemporary art in Rome that can be explored on an ongoing basis. News and participant lists are constantly updated. All event photographs will be uploaded to the press area.
