Simbiosi Ambientale is a temporary exhibition where art meets nature in Villa de Sanctis, a public park in the heart of Rome. The festival has been curated by the class of Art Curating and Management at RUFA and will run from the 14th to the 18th of September, 2026. The work on display features a collection of multidisciplinary responses to the theme of Simbiosi.
SIMBIOSI – Ambientale Art Festival
12 recently graduated artists have been chosen to use their emerging voices to share their interpretations of Simbiosi. Many of the artworks spark conversations around contemporary issues of sustainability and environmental concerns.
More than just harmony, symbiosis describes a state of exchange, contamination and continuous negotiation between different forms of existence. This year’s theme invites artists to consider what it means to connect and coexist: with the land, with one another, with our past and with the future.
The park becomes part of the exhibition, framing the work and creating a temporary, bustling hub of creativity. Artworks emerge from the trees and sculptures inhabit the empty spaces of this sanctuary of nature in the city of Rome.
The festival programme offers a variety of events, from performances and film screenings to guest speakers and more.
Simbiosi Ambientale has partnered with R5 Living, a company that shares the festival’s environmental values and imagines more sustainable ways of living through low-impact products. R5 Living will be present at Villa de Sanctis with a selection of cleaning products, providing visitors with an opportunity to consider more sustainable choices in their day-to-day lives.
The curatorial team is composed of the class of Art Curating and Management at RUFA. The artist selection jury brought together these twelve students with six professionals from Rome’s art scene including teachers, critics and professional artists. The professionals brought an experienced eye, developed through years of working in the art world, while the students contributed a fresh perspective and their own emerging voices.
The students that curated and organised Simbiosi Ambientale are as follows:
Ciara Buckley
Carla Cortada
Carlotta Gambaro
Nicolás Gámez
Hélène Jacob
Ilaria Leckie
Imogen Lawrie
Stefanie Lang
Annalaura Mazzeo
Marleen Molenaar
Ronaldo Sapam
Macarena Vejar