In 2012, French artist JR joined the national campaign L’Italia sono anch’io [I, too, am Italy]—promoted by Rete G2, Arci, and other social and labor organizations—advocating for the citizenship rights of people with migration backgrounds and their children. Through the Inside Out participatory public art project, JR installed more than 1,500 large-format photographic portraits on buildings and in public spaces across nine Italian cities. Since then, no other major cultural interventions have addressed this theme. Although contemporary art and culture are often seen as spaces of critique, disruption, and imagination, their engagement in the public discourse around Citizenship Reform has remained largely absent. What responsibilities do cultural workers hold? Can we truly understand art as a site of struggle, solidarity, and real transformation? As the national vote on the abrogative referendums quickly approaches (scheduled for June 8–9, 2025 in Italy), SPAZIO GRIOT, along with Lateral Roma and Italiani Senza Cittadinanza (Italians Without Citizenship), invite activists, artists, curators, cultural workers, and citizens to a collective gathering for reflection and dialogue. [FUORI]CAMPO will provide an opportunity to debate one of the referendum’s central questions—the Italian Citizenship Reform—which proposes reducing the residency requirement from 10 to 5 years for foreign nationals seeking citizenship, while also focusing on the role of art and culture in generating political space and public awareness around the issue.

TIMTETABLE:

6 PM – Screening: Motherland > Christian Offman / Barocco (2022, 4 min 23 sec, orginal version subtitled in English)

6:05 PM– From ‘Inside Out/L’Italia Sono Anche Io’ to the June 8-9 Referendum on Citizenship
Johanne Affricot in conversation with Sielke Kelner

7 PM – Citizenship as a site of cultural responsibility
Conversation with Johanne Affricot, Laura Cabezas, Marta Federici and Sielke Kelner

7:30 PM – Discussion open to the public

Lateral Roma
Via Ferdinando Ughelli 28, Rome
Free entry until full capacity