FOROF
presents
Episode IV of Season V
in dialogue with Alicja Kwade’s site-specific installation INFRASUPRA
curated by Valentino Catricalà
SHAPES OF POWER
A performance by Tobias Dostal
Thursday, April 23, 2026, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Palazzo del Gallo di Roccagiovine
Foro Traiano, 1 – Rome
www.forof.it
Rome, April 10, 2026
FOROF’s Artflix continues its artistic and cultural program with the presentation of the new activation episode of Season V, which last October entrusted the leading role to international artist Alicja Kwade, featured at Foro Traiano 1 with the environmental installation INFRASUPRA (on view until July 29, 2026).
At Palazzo del Gallo di Roccagiovine, where the only colored marble remains of the Basilica Ulpia (2nd century AD) are preserved, and where since 2022 a fruitful encounter between archaeology and contemporary art has been celebrated, FOROF founder Giovanna Caruso Fendi will welcome artist and illusionist Tobias Dostal on April 23, 2026, for the performative intervention Shapes of Power. The project is conceived as a spatial and psychological investigation into the nature of control and the fragility of perception: divided into two symmetrical acts, the performance inhabits the historical stratification of FOROF, transforming the act of magic into a tool of philosophical inquiry.
In the first act (hypogeum), Dostal engages in dialogue with darkness and Alicja Kwade’s works. Here, magic is not play but shadow: an emanation of power cast upon ancient stones like an oversized, archaic authority. However, through a sophisticated play of reflections, illusion begins to fracture. Shadows multiply and become independent from the performer, suggesting that every form of dominance—historical, political, or visual—is inherently unstable and entirely dependent on the ability to define what is real.
In the second act (upper level), the performance shifts toward theater and conscious manipulation. Through the use of light sculptures and sleight-of-hand techniques, Dostal involves the audience in a ritual of guided disillusionment. If in the first part the viewer witnesses the loss of control, in the second they regain it: magic ceases to be deception and becomes awareness.
Shapes of Power reminds us that doubt is not a weakness of sight, but the beginning of freedom. “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 astonish, 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 question how much of the power we experience daily is real and how much is instead a projection orchestrated in the shadows,” notes curator Valentino Catricalà, curator of FOROF Season V.
Episode IV unfolds across two different spatial dimensions within Foro Traiano 1, where previously the ancient vestiges—site of the manumissio ritual (the granting of freedom to slaves during the reign of Trajan)—have entered into dialogue with Alicja Kwade’s works and the performances of PAAR (Ep. 1), poet and vocalist Jonida Prifti (Ep. 2), and the artistic duo MASBEDO (Ep. 3).
Giovanna Caruso Fendi comments on the connections between Tobias Dostal’s performance and the environmental installation INFRASUPRA: “The theme of the exhibition—the balance between power and control—is very interesting. If the image of the chair on a sphere represents the unstable equilibrium between structure and freedom, the apple is a symbol of both power and liberation. Tobias Dostal’s magic aligns well with these concepts: during the performance, the audience does not know what is happening, so it is as if the artist exerts a form of control while simultaneously creating an experience that can be liberating. Shapes of Power becomes something unique, existing only in that shared moment, almost an unrepeatable manifestation.”
On the occasion of Episode IV as well, FOROF relies on the gourmet creativity of Rimessa Roscioli to translate the concept of the performance into a sensory culinary journey, extending social interaction and contributing to the spirit of sharing and freedom that animates the cultural and artistic project.
Thanks to Galleria Continua, the German Academy Rome Villa Massimo, and the Polish Institute in Rome.
In partnership with Rimessa Roscioli.
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TOBIAS DOSTAL
Tobias Dostal (b. 1982) is a Berlin-based artist, creator, and illusionist. Internationally known for inventing original magical devices, Dostal expands the space between artistic creation and magical experience. Based in Berlin since 2014, he studied at HBK Braunschweig from 2004 to 2011 under Walter Dahn, Thomas Virnich, and Christoph Schlingensief. As Schlingensief’s assistant, he accompanied him on various projects, including Flying Dutchman in Manaus in 2007. Dostal was the first recipient of Schlingensief’s Operndorf Foundation in Burkina Faso in 2015, where he created a series of water-based animated drawings that significantly contributed to his receiving the Horst Janssen Graphics Prize from the Claus Hüppe Foundation in 2017. The prize is one of the most prestigious and well-funded awards in the field of drawing, granted every three years to showcase innovative positions in drawing and graphic art.
FOROF
FOROF is a unique institution in Rome that promotes dialogue between archaeology and contemporary art, history and experimentation, offering diverse services and an innovative cultural program. Founded by Giovanna Caruso Fendi in 2022, FOROF implements a new model of cultural entrepreneurship aimed at generating a positive and lasting social impact through a program based on the idea of a place where past and present interact. FOROF occupies the historic Palazzo del Gallo di Roccagiovine, facing Trajan’s Column in the Imperial Forums, and preserves in its underground spaces—under agreement with the Archaeological Superintendency of Rome—the colored marble floors of the Basilica Ulpia and the remains of its eastern apse (2nd century AD).
With the aim of sharing art in an innovative way, through a constant relationship between history, archaeology, and contemporary art, FOROF hosts a program of site-specific projects in which Italian and international artists—selected by the scientific committee for their ability to engage with the space and cultural context—are invited to create exhibitions or environmental installations in dialogue with the underground archaeological site. Each season, the selected artist is accompanied by a different curator. In addition, in the multifunctional area facing the street, overlooking the Forums, the exhibition activates a program of collateral events including performances, readings, talks, musical interventions, and participatory actions, in which the audience is not only a spectator but also an active participant.
FOROF began its journey with the immersive installation by SOUNDWALK Collective curated by Threes Productions in 2022, followed by the spiritual experience of Alex Cecchetti curated by Maria Alicata in 2022, then Augustas Serapinas curated by Ilaria Gianni in 2023, and the irreverent project by GELITIN/GELATIN curated by Bartolomeo Pietromarchi in 2024. Each exhibition project is activated by a program of events—Episodes—for further exploration.
PUBLIC INFORMATION
Foro Traiano, 1 – Rome | info@forof.it | www.forof.it
SHAPES OF POWER April 23, 2026 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Admission by reservation on vivaticket.com until seats are sold out.
INFRASUPRA open to the public from October 29, 2025 to July 29, 2026
By reservation, Wednesday to Sunday from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
For information and reservations: 39 351 626 2553