Founded in 1666 by Louis XIV, the Académie de France in Rome is the oldest and most renowned residence for French artists abroad. Located at Villa Medici since 1803, Villa Medici carries out three complementary missions: to host high-level artists, creators, and art historians for annual residencies or shorter stays; to realize a cultural and artistic program that covers all fields of art and creation and is aimed at a wide audience; to preserve, restore, study, and make known to the public its architectural and landscape heritage and its collections.
Cristiano Leone joined this prestigious institution in an unprecedented position, being responsible for the artist residencies, communication, and cultural programming in all its aspects.
Over 4 years, Cristiano Leone has coordinated exhibitions curated by Jérôme Delaplanche, Chiara Parisi, Christian Boltanski, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Hou Hanru, and Evelyne Jouanno.
He also curated Ileane Florescu’s exhibition The Garden Rooms.
Cristiano Leone’s artistic direction has expressed the fundamental themes of his research and work in various forms: the valorization of historical heritage through contemporary art and the dialogue between different fields of art.
Every Thursday, leading figures of creation are invited to Villa Medici to share with the public the big questions that guide their work.
Dialogues, performances, demonstrations, concerts, and projections to explore the boundaries of creation by bringing together the most diverse fields of arts and knowledge: from visual arts to cinema or music, through science, photography, literature, and fashion.
A mosaic of meetings and conversations that has seen, over the years, Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo, architects of fantastic worlds awarded by the Academy, the culinary art of Pierre Hermé, among the world’s best pastry chefs, and then cultural institutions of the caliber of Philippe Daverio or Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, and performers like Christian Rizzo, Eleonora Abbagnato, and Marie-Agnès Gillot, international-level etoiles.
A multidisciplinary festival of contemporary music, where electronics meet pop and rock.
The three editions conceived and designed by Cristiano Leone incorporate collaborations with visual artists in a new way, with innovative light installations for a new festival experience.
Curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto, the Art Clubs series presents the work of some of the most famous contemporary international artists, as an opportunity for ephemeral installations and the valorization of heritage, in a spirit of openness to the most diverse forms of creation.
Engaging and sharp seminars that compare the viewpoints of artists and scientific knowledge about the environment and its concerns.
Four editions of themed projection weeks in the gardens at dusk, free and open to all, dedicated to great cinema actresses and Italian and French directors.
2016 – Anna Magnani / 2017 – Jeanne Moreau
2018 – Sophia Loren / 2019 – Paolo Virzì
A now famous format, introduced for the first time in Rome in 2016 following the Parisian Nuit Blanche. From 22:00, Villa Medici comes alive with new exhibition circuits that add to the guided conferences in the gardens.
The night progresses, and the historic façade comes alive with light, and a DJ-set mixes various musical influences.
The focus on communication and the synergies developed aimed at amplifying the value and reach of Villa Medici’s artistic programming.
Among the initiatives:
Live on Radio Rai and Radio France, debates of artists and intellectuals on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. With Sandro Gozi, Secretary of State for European Affairs, Sergio Castellito, director, and Giuseppe Penone, artist.
In collaboration with the Courtyard of the Gentiles of the Vatican, this roundtable opens the debate on “can we say everything in the name of freedom of expression?”. Two teams composed of intellectuals, ecclesiastics, and artists defend each thesis.
Numerous publications coordinated over the years of direction, among which:
Villa Médicis – il catalogo | Electa
This book, entirely curated by Cristiano Leone, tells the story of the place, Villa Medici, and the prestigious institution it hosts, the Académie de France in Rome.
Texts by its director Muriel Mayette-Holtz, Jérôme Delaplanche, and Cristiano Leone allow for a deep dive and reliving of the visit, between past and present with a renewed iconographic corpus.
Published in French, Italian, and English by Electa.
Ileana Florescu – Le Stanze del Giardino | Electa
Catalog of the exhibition curated by Cristiano Leone. Written in both French and Italian.
Quote from the catalog, by Achille Bonito Oliva: “Ileana Florescu uses photography, starting from the gardens of Villa Medici, to decorate her works, the result of her research, her nomadism, her travels, her encounters. For a long time, photography has documented the “skin of things”, but thanks to memory, the artist manages to infuse them with depth.“
