Paradise Lost (Modena)
Palazzina dei Giardini and Museo della Figurina
The 17th-century Palazzina dei Giardini Ducali welcomes a lush paradise of flowers, plants, butterflies, birds, and animals of all kinds and species, created for the occasion by Fallen Fruit to inspire reflection on the natural environment threatened by climate change. With the exhibition Paradise Lost, curated by Francesca Fontana, artists David Allen Burns and Austin Young draw inspiration from images in historic collections preserved at the Museo della Figurina to create an immersive environment that fills curtains and walls, reconstructing a sort of “lost paradise.” Their works, starting from maps of public fruit trees made in Los Angeles in 2004, are always closely connected to urban spaces and the desire to “share the world with others.”
Just a few steps from the Botanical Garden, the Californian duo’s site-specific work will be exhibited in a space filled with images and evocative suggestions, featuring also taxidermy animals from the Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, part of the Museum and Botanical Garden System of Unimore. Wolves, foxes, monkeys, birds, iguanas, and toads—silent witnesses immersed in the artwork—seem to regain new life, reminding us of the fragility of existence and the balance of nature.
The exhibition also unfolds at the Museo della Figurina, located in Palazzo Santa Margherita, where visitors can admire the original images that inspired the artists. These refined drawings are accompanied by explanatory texts in a simple style reminiscent of the popular miniature encyclopedia that characterized the sticker albums of the time: from “Symbols of Flowers” to “Alpine Peaks,” from “The Power of Insects” to “Major Crops,” and on to “Butterflies and Cupids” or “Children and Shells.”
Info and tickets
On September (Only Palazzina dei Giardini – Museo della Figurina closed for exhibition setup from September 1 to 18)
Reduced admission for all: €5
