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Fiumicino, 17 December 2018 – Terminal 3 of Leonardo da Vinci will be enriched by contemporary works of art. In fact, as of today, thanks to a project that is the result of collaboration between Aeroporti di Roma and the Embassy of the Argentinian Republic in Italy, a creation made specifically for the Roman airport by Argentinian sculptor Alejandro Marmo will be on display in the international arrivals terminal for the benefit of passengers transiting through the capital.
Significance and message of the work. The sculpture – made of sheet iron and 4 metres tall – is part of the “Los Abrazos” series and depicts two people embracing, symbolically representing the meeting of the cultures. Even the location where it is placed is emblematic, at the disembarkation point for passengers arriving in Rome from South America. For Marmo, this is not his first time in Italy as an artist – with “Cristo obrero” and “Virgen de Luján”, he was the first Argentinian artist with an exhibit in the Vatican Museums – but it is the first time that he has created a work designed specifically for an airport, universally a meeting place of all the cultures of the world.
“Unveiling” the statue during the opening ceremony was Managing Director, Ugo de Carolis, who commented: “We are pleased to host El Abrazo here at Fiumicino. It is an important donation for Rome, for the airport and for the many tourists and pilgrims who come to visit us every year. In the coming days, we are about to receive a total of one and a half million tourists for the holiday period, including 70,000 passengers from South American countries. IN particular, the traffic from and to Argentina this year is up more than +8% compared to 2017, thanks to the two daily flights that connect Rome and Buenos Aires operated by Alitalia and Aerolineas Argentinas. As an airport management company, we are ready to provide maximum comfort in addition to always guaranteeing more connections with a geographical area that is growing rapidly.”
“The statue donated to the Fiumicino Airport by Alejandro Marmo reminds us of the duty we all have to build bridges between the two shores of the ocean. As it was with the history that united us and must unit Italy and Argentina. This is why Marmo’s works have the added value of promoting all types of integration initiatives” commented the Argentinian Ambassador to Italy, Tomás Ferrari.
Passengers will be encouraged to take a photo of their own embraces to share on their social media profiles and on the Aeroporti di Roma Facebook and Twitter profiles.
Aeroporti di Roma, Company of the Atlantia Group, manages and develops the airports of Rome Fiumicino and Ciampino and undertakes other activities relating to and supplementing airport management. Fiumicino operates through three passenger terminals. It is dedicated to business and leisure clients on national, international and intercontinental routes. Ciampino is mainly used by low-cost airlines, by express couriers and for General Aviation operations. In 2017, the ADR airport system registered 46.9 million passengers, with over 230 destinations across the world accessible from Rome thanks to around 100 airlines operating in the two airports. According to Skytrax official certification, in 2017 Fiumicino was the world’s number one airport for improvements and developments to its services. This awards adds to the award granted to the airport by Airport Council International as the most appreciated airport in Europe by passengers and to the “Best Airport Award” 2018 given to the Rome airport during the annual assembly of Airport Council International.
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