LEMBI presents Student Programme Edition #1 — Spores.
An exhibition and mentoring programme developed through the collaboration between RUFA and LEMBI.
LEMBI, an independent exhibition space based in San Lorenzo, Rome, dedicated to installation-based practices and the exploration of contemporary ecologies, presents the Student Programme Edition #1 – Spores, developed in collaboration with RUFA.
The programme invites students to develop an exhibition project through a structured series of mentoring sessions, fostering the creation of a shared research environment shaped by a horizontal creative approach grounded in listening, dialogue and experimentation. Rather than focusing solely on the production of a final exhibition, the programme is conceived as an ongoing process: a series of individual tutorials and collective moments of exchange that accompany students from the early development of their projects through to the final presentation of their works within the exhibition space, supporting the evolution of their artistic practice over time.
Spores
The inaugural edition revolves around the concept of spores, understood as both a material and metaphorical condition: an element of dispersion, transformation and mutation capable of crossing boundaries, generating unexpected connections and imagining new forms of mutualism. Through engagement with queer ecologies and contemporary artistic practices, students are invited to investigate themes such as contamination, coexistence and interdependence within a context shaped by today’s environmental and social crises.
The programme: Master’s and Bachelor’s students
For Master’s students, from the class led by Marta Jovanović, performer, lecturer and current Head of RUFA’s Visual Arts Department, the programme will culminate in a series of performative interventions conceived as autonomous yet interconnected moments. For Bachelor’s students, guided by visual artist and lecturer Leonardo Petrucci, the project will take the form of a group exhibition featuring individual works selected through an open call.
The RUFA – LEMBI collaboration
The collaboration between RUFA and LEMBI represents a valuable opportunity to bridge the gap between academic education and professional artistic practice. By offering students access to an independent exhibition space beyond the university environment, the programme enables them to engage directly with curatorial processes, production methodologies and exhibition-making practices, while fostering a deeper awareness of their own artistic research. Located in the cultural district of San Lorenzo, the project strengthens the dialogue between educational institutions and independent art spaces, encouraging students’ active participation and contributing to the development of an artistic community founded on exchange and experimentation. The shared ambition is to build, over time, a programme capable of offering students meaningful opportunities for personal and professional growth, spaces for dialogue with artists, curators and cultural practitioners, as well as future prospects for international exchange between Rome and London. Through this initiative, LEMBI is committed to supporting contemporary artistic practices that respond to the urgencies of the present while promoting educational models based on research, collaboration and interdisciplinary experimentation.
Programme // LEMBI, Via dei Volsci 62, Rome
MA, Performance
25 June — 6.00–8.00 pm
Self-portrait, Unraveled and Recollected, Pedro Henrique Simplicio
26 June — 6.30–8.00 pm
Everything Here is Learning to Melt, Michelle Ronaly
BA, Group Exhibition
While You Weren’t Looking
Mimmi Feuer, Mattia Pio Mazza, Arianna Pompeo
1 July – Opening — 6.00 pm
4 July – Closing — 5.00–9.00 pm
Mentors
Matilde Consoli is an interdisciplinary artist, curator and writer whose practice is research-driven. Her work investigates collective and convivial dimensions as acts of resistance, exploring strategies for group transformation and the languages of care and listening through the lenses of ecological and feminist theory. In her practice, writing and artistic production are conceived as relational tools for inquiry and socio-political change. Following an MA in Visual Cultures and Curatorial Practices at the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, she curated Post Modo: Fenomeni Alterati (Rome, 2021) and was selected as curator for the Premio Treviglio (Milan, 2023). She has collaborated with Short Theatre Festival (2023) and CASTRO Project (2024), and since 2024 has been writing for Exibart and art a part of cult(ure).
Michela De Nichilo is an artist based between London and Rome. Founder of LEMBI (2025), she holds a BA in Fine Art & History of Art from Goldsmiths, University of London (2015), and an MFA in Fine Art from the Slade School of Fine Art, London (2017). Awarded the DYCP grant from Arts Council England (2021), she has exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions across London, Rome, Trento, Lisbon and Seoul. Her practice develops through installation and performance, integrating video, sound and sculpture to explore systems of interrelationships within a research trajectory that embraces ecology, the climate crisis and ecofeminist theory.