When does the act of magic become a tool for philosophical inquiry? The answer lies in the fourth Episode of FOROF’s fifth Season, a new activation of the site-specific installation INFRASUPRA by Alicja Kwade, dedicated to representing the utopian balance between power and control.
In close connection with Kwade’s works and themes, and in direct dialogue with the only remaining marble flooring of the Basilica Ulpia preserved in the underground level of Foro Traiano 1, for this new Episode of FOROF the artist and illusionist Tobias Dostal will present SHAPES OF POWER on Thursday, April 23— a spatial and psychological investigation into the nature of control and the fragility of perception.
Dostal plays with shadows, refractions, and manipulation techniques, dividing his intervention into two acts: in the first, he calls upon the millenary stones of the Basilica Ulpia as co-protagonists, a unique scenography where illusion is destined to shatter, suggesting the instability of any form of domination; in the second, he chooses instead to express himself within a theatrical dimension, involving the audience in a guided ritual of disillusion, aimed at regaining control and awareness.
“For FOROF, Tobias Dostal transforms the magical device into a visual essay on the deconstruction of authority. In a place dense with archaeological memory, his performance does not merely amaze, but questions the very structure of our perception. It is a work that perfectly aligns with Alicja Kwade’s research: if Kwade dismantles the laws of physics, Dostal dismantles the laws of vision, leading us to ask how much of the power we experience daily is real, and how much is instead a projection orchestrated in the shadows,” notes Valentino Catricalà, curator of FOROF’s Season V.
Tobias Dostal (*1982) is an internationally renowned artist, creator, and illusionist known for inventing original magical devices. By expanding the space between artistic creation and magical experience, he has developed a distinctive practice. Based in Berlin since 2014, Dostal studied under Walter Dahn, Thomas Virnich, and Christoph Schlingensief at HBK Braunschweig between 2004 and 2011. In 2017, he received the Horst Janssen Graphic Art Prize from the Claus Hüppe Foundation, one of the most prestigious awards in the field of drawing and graphic art, granted every three years to highlight innovative positions in the discipline.
At the end of the Episode, a taste-sensory experience curated by RIMESSA Roscioli.
Thanks to Galleria Continua, Accademia Tedesca Roma Villa Massimo, and Istituto Polacco di Roma.
Thursday, April 23, 2026
From 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Admission by ticket purchase, subject to availability
(Punctuality is kindly requested)