Fuori Sede - Festival of Foreign Academies and Cultural Institutes

A festival that opens the doors of foreign academies

Rome is home to one of the densest communities of international cultural institutions in the world: Villa Medici, the American Academy in Rome, the British School at Rome, the Academia Belgica, the German Academy Villa Massimo, the Goethe-Institut, and the academies of Romania, Hungary, and Egypt, among many others. Fuori Sede was created to make this network—often perceived as exclusive to insiders—visible to the public, fostering a dialogue between the fellows and researchers residing in the capital and the city's daily life and history.

Where and when

The festival's headquarters is the Palazzo Esposizioni Roma, located at Via Nazionale 194, in the heart of the Monti district, Rome. The program then branches out to the MACRO - Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome and the various participating academies, often historic villas and palaces that open their doors to the public for this occasion.

A multidisciplinary program

Each edition revolves around a collective exhibition by the fellows, accompanied by a packed calendar of public events. The tone is one of exchange: round tables on contemporary art and post-colonial issues, conversations between curators, screenings, performances, and literary sessions with writers. Languages and disciplines blend, and the public is free to come and go from the meetings.

• Exhibitions by the academies' fellows, with a different curator for each edition
• Talks and round tables on contemporary artistic and cultural themes
• Literary meetings, presentations, and dialogues between Italian and international authors
• Screenings, concerts, and performances at the academies' venues

Previous editions

In 2026, the festival reached its fourth edition. The journey began with Roma, a portrait, curated by Cecilia Canziani (Palazzo Esposizioni, 2023), followed by Expodemic, curated by Lorenzo Benedetti (Palazzo Esposizioni, 2024), and Sublime cliché, curated by Saverio Verini (MACRO, 2025). Each title offered a different perspective on the foreign gaze upon Rome: the portrait, the circulation of exhibitions, and the sublimated cliché.

Why it is worth visiting

Fuori Sede is one of the few events where international Rome and its residents truly meet. Admission to the events is free, the format is informal, and the calendar spans several months, from spring to mid-summer. You can choose a single talk on a July evening or follow the entire exhibition path. For those who love contemporary art, literature, and the capital's less accessible locations, it is an unmissable opportunity.

The context: Rome and its academies

The tradition of foreign academies in Rome has its roots in the Grand Tour and the idea of the city as an essential stop for European artistic training. Over the centuries, that function has changed but not disappeared: today, dozens of artists, architects, composers, and scholars arrive in the capital every year on scholarships. Fuori Sede tells exactly this story, returning the work of those who temporarily pass through the city to the city itself.