Visitors to Trajan's Markets in Rome are getting a dose of contemporary minimalist sculpture along with their ancient ruins thanks to a new outdoor exhibition by Japanese artist Kan Yasuda.
For his first solo show in the capital, Yasuda has positioned 30 sculptures in marble, granite and bronze around the 1,900-year-old remains of the Roman shopping centre.
Most of the minimalist works have smooth, curving forms like giant sea-worn pebbles, while square upright structures frame the ruins and the sky.
Visitors are invited to touch, sit on, stroke, climb, lie on, crawl into and clamber through the art works.
The idea behind the exhibition s title, Touching Time, is that the sculptures channel hidden energy their own and that of their location which can be felt by people interacting with them.
Yasuda insists his sculptures should not be appreciated intellectually but are supposed to be a tactile experience.
"The space is transformed into a magnetic field and the energy of the place wakes as if from a long sleep," Yasuda said of his work.
"Whoever sees and touches my sculptures, and doesn't just look, will feel the rush of time. He'll hear soundless voices resonate inside him that emerge from the depths of the place".
The exhibition begins at ground level in the courtyard, where the rough edges of broken and intricately carved Roman columns and headless statues contrast with the smooth white marble of Yasuda's rounded egg shapes and cool concave pebbles.
Also on this level is his bronze "Ishinki", a black womb-like sculpture large enough for an adult to crawl inside that absorbs the heat of the sun.
On the higher levels of the Great Hemicycle and the ancient Via Biberatica, sculptures are tucked away inside the Roman shops and offices like benign cave spirits.
At the top, medieval level of the markets the bronze "Kimon" stands aligned with church steeples, its central black egg split open towards the sky, framing views over the Forum.
Two large vertical sculptures also stand under the shade of pine trees by the Torre delle Milizie, cool to the touch and radiating a quiet calm despite the roar of traffic from the nearby Largo Magnanapoli roundabout.
MINIMALIST SCULPTURES BLEND INTO SURROUNDINGS.
Art historian Michael Moretti, who has contributed to the exhibition catalogue, believes the appeal of Yasuda s sculptures lies in a primordial quality that allows the works to blend in to their surroundings wherever they may be.
"Yasuda's works blend in harmoniously into the archaeological sites of Rome almost as if they had been there for thousands of years," he said.
Most tourists visiting Trajan's Markets on the first weekend after the exhibition opened seemed wary of clambering on the sculptures.
Children were less shy, but nobody was willing to admit to hearing soundless voices.
"I can hear buses," said seven-year-old American tourist Emily, her ear pressed to a bronze sculpture.
Yasuda was born in Bibai on the island of Hokkaido, Japan, in 1945 but has lived in Pietrasanta, Tuscany, since 1970.
He created eleven of the sculptures especially for the Rome show, but many of the other pieces have been exhibited in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Japan and Australia.
In Italy, his works were positioned around the courtyards and rooftops of Assisi in 2005 and in the squares and Boboli Gardens of Florence in 2000.
The interior of Trajan's Markets has been off limits to the public since 2005 for restoration work and access to the exhibition is currently via Trajan's Forum. The markets, which were built in 107-110 AD, are set to open in their entirety in October.
Kan Yasuda - Touching Time is at Trajan s Markets until 13 January 2008.
