Opening: Tuesday, October 21 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM
Venue: RUFA Space – Pastificio Cerere, Via degli Ausoni 7, Rome
Free admission
The exhibition will be open to the public until Friday, October 31.
On the occasion of the tenth edition of RAW – Rome Art Week, RUFA opens its doors to the public with an exhibition that intertwines art, technology, and human fragility: a selection of works created by female students and young artists from the Academy.
The works on display were created as part of the Impressions of Humanity project, conceived and promoted to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the MSD Foundation and carried out in collaboration with RUFA, Eikon Strategic Consulting Italia Società Benefit, Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, and a network of Patient and Caregiver Associations.
Impressions of Humanity was born with the aim of giving voice, through art, to the experiences and emotions of young caregivers, promoting art as a tool for inclusion, listening, and social transformation.
The project seeks to explore, understand, and communicate—through digital arts and dialogue with artificial intelligence—the experiences of young Italian caregivers: women and men between the ages of 18 and 30 who care for vulnerable family members.
An initiative that connects young creatives, health professionals, and cultural institutions, contributing to raising public awareness of a phenomenon that remains largely invisible but is of fundamental social importance.
After being previewed at the Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, the works will be exhibited for the first time at RUFA on the occasion of the Rome Art Week, where they will be open to the public until October 31.
The artists worked under the guidance of Francesca Fini, with curatorial supervision by Leonardo Petrucci, artist and RUFA lecturer, and Marta Jovanović, artist and Coordinator of the RUFA Department of Visual Arts.
On display: Scheda madre by Lucrezia Della Balda, Giulia’s room and A drink with Giulia by Raquel Nache Lopez, Forget Us Not by Jasmijn Plantinga, 102 by Nino Skhirtladze, Home, Sweet Home! by Leila Tanhaei and CARRY by Ruta Valantiejute.
Raquel Nache López
Multimedia artist based in Rome. Her practice revolves around shared human experiences and emotional responses to the rapidly changing world we inhabit. Through painting, installation, and digital experimentation, she reflects on how individual and collective histories intersect within contemporary life. Blending emotion and observation, she often explores new technologies and AI as both creative tools and mirrors of human behavior. Her recent work Giulia delves into caregiving, presence, and digital consciousness, reimagining the boundaries between human and machine.
Rūta Valantiejutė
Born in 2004 in Kaunas, Lithuania, she is a visual artist based in Rome. Drawing from the roots of shamanic and pagan traditions, where personified wilderness and primitivism connects human psyche to nature, artist attempts to communicate the importance of connection with nature, empathy and awareness. From 2018 to 2023, she attended Kaunas High School of Art, where she focused on painting. During this time, she actively participated in and led workshops on painting, printmaking, and land art within the local community and as part of the project Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022. In 2023, she worked as an artist on the Kaunas Zoo remodeling project.
Leila Tanhaei
Born 1999, Rasht, Iran. Leila Tanhaei is a painter and multidisciplinary artist with a background in architecture. She initially studied mathematics and physics before earning her first bachelor’s degree in architecture in her hometown. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Painting at RUFA. Working across various mediums, including painting, multimedia, and installation art, her work explores the struggles of humanity and cultural identity. Using diverse materials, she evokes deep emotional responses, navigating themes of resilience, emotional values, and collective struggle. Through her art, she thoughtfully examines the complexities of human existence and cultural heritage.
Jasmijn Doukje Plantinga
Jasmijn Doukje Plantinga (b. 2004, Harderwijk, NL) is an artist based in Amsterdam. She graduated with honors in 2025 with a BFA in Painting from RUFA, Rome University of Fine Arts. Working primarily in large-scale oil portraits, her work explores symbolism and incorporates traditional and diverse fabrics as both subject and material.
Lucrezia Della Balda
Lucrezia was born on November 5, 2004, in Bologna.
She grew up in Rimini, where she earned her high school diploma in Painting from the “A. Serpieri” Art School.
She currently lives in Rome, where she is pursuing her activism and a degree in Visual Arts at RUFA (Rome University of Fine Arts).
Nino Skhirtladze
Nino was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in January 1999. She first earned a degree in French Literature, then completed a Bachelor’s in Film Directing. She later continued her studies in Fine Arts at RUFA.
Cover photo: Claudia Rolando. Artwork pictured: Leila Tanhaei.