From a laboratory of experimentation to a museum in a year: in its new guise the Musja, the new private museum of Rome, is (re)opened from October 8th: cured by Daniele Eccher (former director of the Macro in Rome and the GAM of Turin), it opens with “Fear of the Dark” – an important temporary exhibition with large works by 13 international artists.
What is Musja
The Musja s the prestigious collection of the founder Ovidio Jacorossi, composed of about 2500 works that will be exhibited in rotation and covering a whole century – from 1900 to 2000: from the avant-garde of the 20s and 30s of the 1900s between Magical realism, Second Futurism, Primitivism (with works by Giorgio de Chirico, Alberto Savinio, Mario Sironi and Giacomo Balla among others) to the generation of Mario Schifano, Franco Angeli and Tano Festa; from the 70s and 80s by Emilio Prini and Gino De Dominicis, with thecurrents of Nuova Figurazione and Transavanguardia up to the series of large-scale works by Mario Schifano commissioned for the reopening of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome.
Contemporary: The Dark Side – Who’s afraid of the dark?

Courtesy the artist & König Galerie and Galleria Raffaella Cortese.
The first temporary of the Musja Museum “The Dark Side – Who’s afraid of the Dark?” is an exhibition that involves site-specific installations and large-scale works by thirteen important international artists: Christian Boltanski, Monica Bonvicini, James Lee Byars, Monster Chetwynd, Gino De Dominicis, Gianni Dessì, Flavio Favelli, Sheela Gowda, Robert Longo, Hermann Nitsch, Tony Oursler, Chiharu Shiota, Gregor Schneider. Works especially selected to create a suggestion and a reflection dedicated to the theme of the “dark side” and, at the same time, to introduce some essential aspects on the most actual contemporary artistic research, that the public will enjoy through sensory and tactile experiences, theatrical and even magical visions (this is the aim of the artists and curators).
e sensoriali e tattili, visioni teatrali e perfino magiche (nelle intenzioni degli artisti e dei curatori).
The seat
The seat of the Musja, however, is no less impressive than its collections: it is in fact a historic building of about 1000 square meters built on the ancient ruins of Pompeo’s Theather (a few meters from Palazzo Farnese) and renovated in 2017 by architect Carlo Iacoponi. Inside, arranged on three floors, you may find: the gallery dedicated to the Jacorossi Collection, a dining area, a wine bar, the spaces dedicated to temporary exhibitions and the gallery-shop where it is possible to buy works of art, photography and design objects.
Cover image:
Installation View: Chiharu Shiota, Sleeping is like Death, 2019.
Courtesy the artist & Galerie Templon and Gino De Dominicis, Untitled. 1985. Courtesy Collezione Jacorossi, Roma.
Target Point, Italian Ideas