Street art in Rome

Rome gets international street cred for its approach to urban art

Rome’s reputation as a major player in international street art continues to rise, thanks mainly to a series of colourful urban art projects away from the city centre.

In recent years a dynamic street art movement has sprung up in Rome, focused mainly on regenerating neglected and lesser-visited suburbs.

This movement has been driven principally by several ambitious urban art schemes, organised by street art associations such as walls and galleries such as Varsi which is behind the successful Street Heart project in Pigneto and Torpignattara.

Rome’s street art scene has also been embraced by the city administration which recently produced 50.000 maps detailing the locations of the districts most associated with urban art.

Areas such as Ostiense, Testaccio, Prenestina, S. Lorenzo and Garbatella are all known for their street murals but in recent times the S. Basilio and Tor Marancia districts have also joined the club, with the massive SanBa and Big City Life projects respectively.

The capital now attracts some of the best street artists in the world, including Spain’s Liqen and Germany’s Herakut, as well as a stable of internationally renowned Italian artists such as Agostino Iacurci and Blu.

The movement has been boosted by increasingly popular street art festivals such as Outdoor, now in its sixth year, and Memorie Urbane, billed as Italy’s biggest festival dedicated to street art.