From July 11 to 15,L’Aquila will host a participatory art project created as part of “Inside Out – The People’s Art Project by JR,” a global initiative by French artist JR that engages communities through photography. Over 2,000 portraits of residents from the city and the areas affected by the 2009 earthquake will be displayed in Piazza Duomo, as part of a project dedicated to the history, rebirth, and identity of the capital of Abruzzo.
The installation is part of the program for L’Aquila, Italian Capital of Culture 2026, supported by the City of L’Aquila, and was developed under the coordination of ArtsFor. The project directly involved residents through a series of photo shoots in which each participant shared their face and their story, in keeping with the message “Our community, our history. A shared voice in a collective work.”
The black-and-white portraits will be transformed into large posters that will form a visual mosaic bringing together cities, towns, mountains, and inland areas. Piazza Duomo will thus be transformed into an open-air art gallery, with an installation freely accessible to the public for five days.
The project’s highlight is scheduled for Saturday, July 11, from 10 p.m. to midnight, when the square will host a light and music event open to the city. The facades of the buildings will be featured in a multi-projection of portraits and behind-the-scenes images taken during the month of June, accompanied by an original soundtrack.
This participatory event is part of the “L’Aquila città territorio” program, carried out as part of the ReStart development program supported by the City of L’Aquila, with the goal of using culture as a tool for social cohesion, the revitalization of inland areas, and civic participation.
“Inside Out – The People’s Art Project by JR” was launched in 2011 after the French artist was awarded the TED Prize and has since grown into an international movement. The platform has collected over 590,000 portraits through more than 3,000 collective initiatives carried out in 154 countries.
“This installation represents the very essence of our journey as the Italian Capital of Culture,” explained Pierluigi Biondi, Mayor of L’Aquila, “through the more than 2,000 faces in Piazza Duomo, we are not merely displaying a work of art, but the very soul of a region that has managed to rise again. There is an unbreakable bond uniting the provincial capital with the municipalities within the crater: a shared experience not only of the pain of the past, but above all of a vision for the future. “Inside Out” transforms collective participation into a manifesto visible to all, where every single portrait is a fundamental piece of our cultural and social identity. This square, which for days will be covered with the faces of our people, is a symbol of our pride, our rebirth, and the extraordinary strength of an entire region reclaiming its spaces through beauty and culture.”
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| L’Aquila: Over 2,000 Portraits of Residents in JR’s Collective Artwork for the Capital of Culture |
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