VICARIATE OF ROME

SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE

PRESS RELEASE

DAY OF THE ARTS AT THE LATERAN PALACE

On Saturday 15 February, from 16.00, performances by students of the “Silvio d’Amico” National Academy of Dramatic Art, the National Dance Academy, the Santa Cecilia Music Conservatory and an installation of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome

Attend a theatrical performance in the Sala della Conciliazione and a dance performance in the Hall of Emperors, listen to the notes of violins in the Hall of the Apostles and admire an artistic installation in the Hall of Daniel. For the second year, the Lateran Palace opens its doors for the Day of the Arts, an initiative of the university pastoral office of the diocese of Rome in collaboration with the “Silvio d’Amico” Academy of Dramatic Art, the National Dance Academy, the Santa Cecilia Music Conservatory and the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome. On Saturday 15 February, to coincide with the Jubilee of artists and on the occasion of the feast of Beato Angelico on 18 February, from 16.00 it will be possible to access the Palace, free of charge, which will for the occasion host the students’ performances.

The event will be opened by greetings from Msgr. ANDREA MANTO, episcopal vicar, and Don GABRIELE VECCHIONE, coordinator of the office for university pastoral care of the diocese of Rome. “We are pleased to give the young students of the Academies who are studying to become professional artists the opportunity to perform in the House of the Bishop of Rome, on the occasion of the Second Day of the Arts”, declares Don VECCHIONE. “For the diocese, and in particular for our office, to nurture the dreams and hopes of our young people is a genuine mission, which we are indeed happy to fulfil”. Taking inspiration from the Jubilee theme, “we thought of interpreting the theme of hope with a verse from the Eleventh Canto of the Odyssey, ‘Go back to the light of day as soon as you can’”, the priest emphasizes, “which is the invitation that Anticlea addresses to her son Ulysses while he is in Hades. Art is not necessarily aesthetic avoidance, but crossing the darkness, the possibility of not remaining in it. Art is free, it does not collude with the dominant dynamic of performance, which leaves on the field winners (few) and losers (many), but it is introspection, attention, expression, expression also of the evil of living and, as its expression, first emancipation”.

The performances will be repeated four times in the course of the afternoon: at 16.00, 17.00, 18.00 and 19.00. “Oltre quello che c’è” (“Beyond what there is”) is the title of the play by FRANCESCO D’ALFONSO, of the diocesan office, which will be produced by students in the first year of the acting course at the Silvio d’Amico Academy. “It will be the first performance for these young people”, emphasizes D’ALFONSO, “and it is good to think that it is the Church who promotes and launches these young people onstage for the first time, in a beautiful setting. Culture and art can be pop and this does not diminish their importance; on the contrary, it is right to make them accessible to all”.

Journalists and media operators who wish to participate must apply, no later than 24 hours before the event, exclusively via the Holy See Press Office online accreditation system, at: press.vatican.va/accreditamenti.

10 February 2025

Giulia Rocchi, Press and Social Communications Office of the Vicariate of Rome

tel. +390669886343/150; +393393749085

e-mail stampa@diocesidiroma.it; giulia.rocchi@diocesidiroma.it