The Workplace and the Art

The concept of the city and business district is evolving, as is the idea of public art and green spaces. EuroHive, an innovative business hub, addresses this challenge by blending spaces and promoting a dialogue between the different dimensions of our identity: work, wonder, and well-being. EuroHive helps companies meet their ESG targets by contributing to the UN’s SDGs through a series of concrete actions, including art. This approach, in conjunction with an idea by artist Ria Lussi, gave rise to the WalkAround Gallery – an open-air contemporary art gallery that physically accompanies residents, workers, and visitors from EuroHive to the many other points of interest in eUrban, such as the Euroma2 shopping centre and the headquarters of multinational companies like Eni, Engie, Procter & Gamble, and the seat of the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, as well as the ongoing evolution of the area.

The WalkAround Gallery presents twelve artists, aged 25 to 89, each with their own distinctive style, techniques, and backgrounds. This diversity allows each observer to find and rediscover themselves and feel moved. The exhibition features a diverse range of artistic styles, including photographs by Persian musician and photographer Mohssen Kasirossafar, works by Roman street artist Kenji De Angelis, cyanotypes by Anna Di Paola, and creations by Enzo Barchi, which explore the spiritual dimension between figurative and abstract art. The result is a diverse path: a project born out of a passion for art and the redevelopment of public areas for the benefit of people. The WalkAround Gallery project is continually evolving in line with the evolving context of the area in which it is located. Its changing profiles reflect the changing geography of the area, offering new architectural and narrative horizons. A portion of the WAG, due to its “circular” nature, was the subject of a fundraising effort to support a social development project in Madagascar (weworkitworks.org), while another portion was installed within EuroHive’s spaces, enhancing those common areas often overlooked, such as staircases. The space previously occupied by the artworks was repurposed to display information and stories about the trees and medicinal plants featured in the other two installations. Please refer to issue #3 of our Journal for further information on The Moving Forest and The Italian Zen Garden.

Today, almost two years after its inauguration, the works of four artists remain on display: the revolutionary works of Enzo Ragazzini, who was engaged in the 1960s in his photographic research on Optical Art; the unmistakable portraits of Dirk Vogel; and the colourful yet antinaturalistic shots of Patrizio Prunas. Also included is the cosmology of Ria Lussi, which features beings that straddle the boundaries between human, vegetal, animal and mineral. These characters were born from the artist’s exploration of new artistic mediums, namely aluminium and artificial intelligence, and the collaboration between the artist and designer Andrea Bufis. The ten different ALtogether initiatives propose ten simple actions to improve our daily lifestyle, with the aim of encouraging individuals to contribute, even with small gestures, to safeguarding the planet.

Green art also welcomes EuroHive guests in its Welcome Area, with a work by Ria Lussi, decorated with a seventeen-metre Wall Tattoo, becoming part of the daily life of those working in Rome’s contemporary art district. EuroHive’s initiatives demonstrate that business is no longer seen as an entity separate from society and people, but as an active player in promoting culture and sustainability for the well-being of all.