The 2,000 faces of the residents of L’Aquila and the areas affected by the 2009 earthquake come together in Piazza Duomo. From July 11 to 15, 2026, the grand finale installation of “Inside Out – The People’s Art Project by JR” will transform the heart of the capital into an open-air art gallery. On Saturday, July 11, from 10:00 p.m. to midnight, the square will become the stage for an event featuring lights, music, and projections open to the entire city. Admission is free.
The month of filming is over. All the faces are there. You’ll see them on July 11.
As part of the program for“L’Aquila, Italian Capital of Culture 2026”, supported by the City of L’Aquila, the final installation of “Inside Out – The People’s Art Project by JR” is taking shape in Piazza Duomo, where over 2,000 photographic portraits — collected during photo shoots in June in the neighborhoods of L’Aquila and in the municipalities of the 2009 earthquake zone — will be transformed into large black-and-white posters, arranged to form a collective mosaic that brings together cities, towns, mountains, and inland areas.
The installation is open to the public from July 11 to 15, 2026. TheThe event is organized by ArtsFor and is part of the program “L’Aquila: City and Territory”, made possible by the ReStart development program supported by the City of L’Aquila.
Saturday, July 11: The Light and Music Event
The most anticipated moment is the evening of Saturday, July 11, when Piazza Duomo transforms from a gallery into a stage.
From 10:00 p.m. to midnight, the facades of the buildings in the square will become the screen for a multi-projection of black-and-white portraits and behind-the-scenes images taken throughout the month of June. The display will be accompanied by an original soundtrack, in a visually striking and emotionally powerful narrative where light, music, and architecture come together to bring each face’s story to life. An event open to the entire city, with free admission.
2,000 Faces, One Story
The portraits that make up the installation are not photographs—they are stories. Each participant in the June photo shoots shared their face and their story in keeping with the project’s message: “Our community, our story. A shared voice in a collective work.”
Together, the 2,000 posters form a human map of the region: residents of L’Aquila and the municipalities within the crater zone, of all ages and backgrounds, who, through their collective presence, affirm a shared identity—one built not only on the memory of the 2009 earthquake but also on a shared vision of the future.
“This installation represents the very essence of our journey as the Italian Capital of Culture, ” said the Mayor of L’Aquila, Pierluigi Biondi — “Through the more than 2,000 faces in Piazza Duomo, we are not merely displaying a work of art, but the very soul of a region that has managed to rise again. There is an unbreakable bond that unites the provincial capital with the municipalities in the crater: a shared experience not only of the pain of the past, but above all of a vision for the future. ‘Inside Out’ transforms collective participation into a manifesto visible to all, where every single portrait is a fundamental piece of our cultural and social identity. This square, which for days will be covered with the faces of our people, is a symbol of our pride, our rebirth, and the extraordinary strength of an entire region reclaiming its spaces through beauty and culture.”
Inside Out: The Global Project Comes to L’Aquila
Inside Out – The People’s Art Project is the global art platform launched by JR — one of the most influential French artists in the contemporary public art scene — in 2011 after winning the TED Prize. Since then, the movement has spread to 154 countries, sparking more than 3,000 collective actions and collecting 590,000 portraits worldwide. In L’Aquila, the project has found a uniquely meaningful context: a community that weathered the 2009 earthquake and that today, in its year as the Italian Capital of Culture, has chosen to tell its story through art and participation.
As part of the “L’Aquila: City and Territory” program, made possible by the ReStart development program, in conjunction with L’Aquila’s designation as the 2026 Italian Capital of Culture.