I was in Rome from 22 to 26 May 2025, with one additional day dedicated to exploring the city beyond the festival programme. During that time, I visited the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain and the Roman Forum.
At the festival venues, I worked as a custodian, overseeing visitor movement to ensure that guests followed designated routes and stayed with their groups. This role also gave me the opportunity to strike up conversations with local visitors and introduce them to the possibilities of international exchange within the Open House network. I invited them, for example, to attend the next edition of our festival, and the idea was met with great enthusiasm. I am already looking forward to welcoming colleagues from Rome to Brno next spring.
How did my stay at Open House Roma unfold?
On Friday evening, we met with fellow volunteers from across Europe as well as the Rome organising team. The gathering took place at the former municipal slaughterhouse, which now houses architecture studios of the Faculty of Architecture. Each of us received an assignment covering three venues, where we worked for half a day at a time; the fourth half-day was set aside for exploring Rome on our own.
On Saturday morning, I was stationed at Villa Aurelia, an exceptional 19th-century villa that is normally closed to the public. It is surrounded by an elegant French garden and offers breathtaking views of Rome.
In the afternoon, I moved closer to the Roman Forum to FOROF Gallery, a space that brings together archaeology and contemporary art. The exhibition was highly conceptual and bold. Its central motif was, quite literally, a piece of excrement, presented in a wide range of artistic interpretations — a theme that even extended to the gallery’s gift shop. The evening concluded with another informal gathering in a space filled with studios, people and a vibrant atmosphere.
On Sunday, I visited the apartment of the renowned Italian artist Luigi Serafini. He has shaped the entire space according to his own artistic vision, creating a completely unique, deeply personal and at times almost surreal world.
How did the festival differ from our Brno edition?
I also had to adjust to the Roman reality: public transport without timetables, buses that simply arrive when they arrive, and the local approach of preferring to walk — Open House team members told me that if a journey takes under thirty minutes, they do not bother with public transport at all.
Visitors arrived exactly at their reserved time slots, volunteers were always at their posts and carried out their tasks without improvisation. As confirmed by the team member responsible for volunteers, shift swaps, last-minute changes or absences due to illness were almost non-existent.
Open House Roma made a strong impression on me. Even late in the evening, all venues were full of people and children, beautifully reinforcing the city’s vibrant atmosphere. From the moment I arrived, the festival was highly visible across Rome: organisers had filled buses, stops and advertising spaces with the festival’s visual identity.
A particularly strong feature was their digital system. Each visitor had a single personal QR code used to register for all tours. As a custodian, I could easily scan the code on my own phone and see a list of registered visitors, their arrivals and no-shows.
The system also included an overview of all volunteers at each venue, complete with phone contacts, which greatly facilitated communication and coordination. And as a bonus, one of those unplanned moments happened: purely by chance, I spotted the Pope outside the Vatican!
Thanks to Open House Exchange, I made new friends at the festival
Throughout the festival, we stayed in close contact with the organisers and fellow international volunteers via a shared WhatsApp group, where we exchanged experiences and photos. The Rome organising team was welcoming and incredibly helpful at all times. Thanks to this, I made new friends in Rome and met people I know I will always be happy to see again.
We are still looking for new volunteers for Open House Brno 2026
If you would like to experience the festival atmosphere from the other side, join us as a volunteer.