Rome: The river, the city and the passage of time.

The relationship between a river, its city, and the passage of time has never been closer than in Rome. An experimental artistic space in the heart of Trastevere that sits precisely where an ancient, miraculous fountain of oil once erupted. An art curator and writer who traces stories at the crossroads of culture and science. The exhibition RVO transforms Spazio Supernova into a contemporary landscape of fluid memory. Time and history meet in an unexpected setting, concocted through the language of art. Artists Luca Di Luzio and Edoardo Servadio play with the imagery and historical symbols of the Tiber River in a two-person show curated by Fabio Sindici.

The river, the city, time. According to the 4th-century grammarian Servius Marius Honoratus, Rumen was the ancient Etruscan name for the Tiber, stemming from the Indo-European root ruo or rhuo, meaning "to flow." Today, this flow becomes a tangible reality at Spazio Supernova. For the Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus, a river’s flow was the ultimate metaphor for the passage of time. In this shared research project carried out with four hands, Rome—the Eternal City—is re-imagined not merely as a city built along a river, but as a physical representation of time that continuously ebbs, flows, and returns.

From prominent public monuments to forgotten corners, the history of Rome is deeply structuralized by its water. While landmarks like the famous Fontana della Barcaccia in Piazza di Spagna visually remind us of a boat dragged by historic floods, artists Luca Di Luzio and Edoardo Servadio have focused their lenses on much more secretive, murmuring signs. They traversed the city’s alleys to locate the manine (little hands)—discrete wall inscriptions accompanied by a hand pointing its index finger to the exact peak level reached by the Tiber during historical floods. Dating from the Middle Ages to the period following the construction of the late 19th-century embankments, these signs are brought back into light, allowing memory to resurface from the riverbed.

Edoardo Servadio, printed aluminum. Exhibition RVO by the artist Luca Di Luzio and Edoardo Servadio, curated by Fabio Sindici at Spazio Supernova.

RVO is a show that interplays between scientific documentation and aesthetic enchantment, creating a singular historical and artistic ecosystem. Luca Di Luzio utilizes the frottage technique to lift the ancient inscriptions directly onto canvases, which are then worked with a rich color palette diluted in actual water collected from the Tiber. Meanwhile, Edoardo Servadio bridges ancient Roman typography with contemporary urban functionality; utilizing his original custom font, the Lapidario moderno (Modern Lapidary), he carves these historical scripts, hands, waves, and boats directly into stone. In the gallery rooms, these works are grounded by contemporary reconstructions of historical hydrometers—such as the one from the ancient Port of Ripetta—creating a temporal vertigo that extends into the lower floors of the space.

The fragments of history carried by the river find a temporary haven in the rooms of Supernova, capturing a fleeting memory before it dilutes completely into time.

Mixed media on canvas by Luca Di Luzio with interventions by Edoardo Servadio. Exhibition RVO by the artist Luca Di Luzio and Edoardo Servadio, curated by Fabio Sindici at Spazio Supernova.

Luca Di Luzio was born in Rome in 1986, where he lives and works. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence and the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. Since 2015, he has been developing the project Atlas Ego Imago Mundi, transforming body prints into geographical atlases. In 2020, he won the special Utopia prize at the Talent Prize, and in 2021, he was a finalist for the Cairo Prize. His research consistently explores the physical and political aesthetic codes of geography across diverse media.

Edoardo Servadio was born in Genoa and lives in Rome. Spending part of his childhood in Japan left a deep impression on his memory regarding East Asian manhole designs and their civic aesthetic significance. This inspired him to redirect his work toward the utility, decorum, and iconography of urban planning. Combining linear Greek, Etruscan, and Roman geometries, he created the Lapidario moderno typeface, which forms the essence of his bronze and stone works.

Fabio Sindici is a Roman journalist, television author, art critic, and curator. His cultural and scientific reportages have appeared in national publications including La Stampa, L'Espresso, La Repubblica, and Il Foglio, as well as art magazines like Artribune. He writes the column Totem e tribù on Substack and has conducted masterclasses at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome.

Images courtesy the artists and Spazio Supernova. Exhibition text by Fabio Sindici.

RVO
Spazio Supernova
Exhibition period: July 3 – July 15, 2026
Opening: Thursday, July 2, 2026, 19:00
Works by: Luca Di Luzio, Edoardo Servadio
Curated by: Fabio Sindici
Location:Spazio Supernova, Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere 1A, Roma
Hours: Monday to Friday 17:00-20:00, or by appointment
Free admission