Art History FSP participates in local Roman art project

This spring, Dartmouth students on the art history foreign study program collaborated with renowned artist William Kentridge on one of the largest public projects in Rome since the Sistine Chapel. The art piece, which premiered on April 21, is a gigantic frieze, 500 meters long and 10 meters tall, along the wall of the banks of the Tiber River. Titled “Triumphs and Laments: A Project for Rome,”it was created through the method of selective cleaning of patina, a thin layer of grime, that was growing on the wall of the bank.

Art history professor Nicola Camerlenghi, who is leading the program, was put in touch with organizers of the project through mutual friends. He said the organizers were very eager to have students help out in any way possible. In fact, Camerlenghi said that in addition to Dartmouth students, many other students, especially local ones, were involved, in some cases to a larger degree because they had spent more time in Rome.

Because the art history program involves so much traveling, it was somewhat difficult for the students to take an extremely active role in the project, Camerlenghi said. However, they were able to promote the project through social media.

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