Sa.L.A.D - San Lorenzo Art District: Rebuilding the soul of a neighbourhood

Sa.L.A.D. was born from an idea by Roman artist Alessandro Calizza and freelance curator and project manager Tommaso Zijno. Sponsored by Rome's Municipality II and strongly supported by La Sapienza University through its contemporary art museum and laboratory, Sa.L.A.D initially developed as a project aimed at promoting and animating the Roman neighbourhood of San Lorenzo as Rome's art district. A digital map of the neighbourhood was created, highlighting all the artistic realities hidden behind the walls of old buildings, factories and courtyards of public housing complexes. The map, which is constantly updated, shows an area that can be covered on foot in less than 15 minutes, home to over 60 artists and animated by around 15 exhibition and cultural spaces, as well as numerous bookshops and craft shops. It is undoubtedly unique in Rome, but also at national level.

We could define San Lorenzo as a “mixed salad” of art, where people, places and activities, even very different ones, meet, mix or simply coexist, giving life to a dimension of incredible artistic, cultural and social value. Sa.L.A.D. aims to highlight and network what already exists in order to make it visible to everyone. As the Association's motto says, “sometimes you just need to give things a name so that everyone can know about them”. Over time, a group of people has formed around Sa.L.A.D. who, without losing sight of the initial mission, have enriched its form, transforming it from a tool into an active subject. Today, Sa.L.A.D. is an association active in various projects, of which mapping remains the beating heart, which aim to highlight the most characteristic feature of the neighbourhood: art. In just under three years of existence, the association has promoted and developed artist residencies, festivals, meetings and various activities in collaboration with the Fondazione Pastificio Cerere and Yogurt magazine.  

The organisation of talks and meetings was another important activity of the Association, which also launched a bimonthly series of limited edition collectible posters, created each time by artists from San Lorenzo. These posters, which are of great interest to the public, were created with the intention of providing an additional incentive for people to visit the galleries and bookshops in the neighbourhood where they are usually distributed. Galleries and artists have explicitly stated that they have moved from other Roman neighbourhoods to San Lorenzo precisely because of the new life that the project has given and continues to give to this incredible artistic and cultural network in the area.