For its autumn exhibition, the French Academy in Rome - Villa Medici proposes a journey around the theme of water through the works of about 30 contemporary artists of international level, and 10 of these creations are specifically conceived for the exhibition.

On earth and in the atmosphere, at the same time element and resource, water constitutes us and transcends the world. With its infinite forms - rain, sea, drop, dew, stream, cloud, mist, and tears - it is the essential source of all life. Diverted, exploited, and polluted, water has now become a fundamental element of the current ecological crisis. But while on one hand it is the object of conquest, on the other hand the depths are still more mysterious than the Moon today, coveted territories inhabited by imaginary monsters.

After the exhibition "Stories of Stone" (2023), Villa Medici continues its exploration of the elements with the exhibition "The Song of the Sirens. Water told by artists." Starting from Rome, where water seems to be eternal, the exhibition brings together the works of about 30 contemporary artists of international level, and 10 of these creations are specifically conceived for the occasion. 

The exhibition follows the water cycle, from submerged civilizations to ritual practices passing through the murky waters of trade routes. The hybrid figure of the siren, sometimes malevolent and sometimes protective, half woman, half animal, plays the role of guide to navigate between these worlds, from the depths to the surface. Her ambivalence resonates with that of water, a space of metamorphosis between waters of youth and ominous waters. 

The exhibition invites to explore the different states of water seen through the eyes of the artists, from its representation to its political implications, from a good transformed into a resource to a metaphorical search for its source. Immersion in this liquid world opens up a universe of contradictions in an era where stories of the origins of water blend with those that anticipate future scenarios, where water represents a threat due to its floods or its total scarcity, and sea levels rise while rivers dry up.