The Edible Institute II
Art&Science Series
H16:30-20:30
Art&Science Series
H16:30-20:30
Programme:
H16:30-18:00 It came from the tropics, Workshop by Sergio Rojas Chaves
REGISTER HERE FOR THE WORKSHOP
H18:30-20:30 Panel and Food Tasting with contributions by Almaz Aweke, Ginevra Ludovici, Klara Machata, Larissa Tiki Mbassi
REGISTER HERE FOR THE PANEL AND TASTING SESSION
Both the Workshop and the Panel will be held in English.
The Edible Institute II. Unearthing the Difficult Heritage of Plants is the second season of a long-term project initiated in 2024 by the artist duo Aterraterra, which has activated a series of cultivation areas in the garden of Istituto Svizzero in Rome, dedicated to both domesticated and wild edible plants.
This current phase of the project introduces a variety of species linked to histories of difficult heritage, whose diffusion, selection, or even names and associated narratives are connected, for example, to Italian colonialism or fascism, but also to practices of resistance and self-determination within oppressed communities. Through these newly cultivated areas, Aterraterra proposes a renewed approach to these themes.
With The Edible Institute II, the garden of Istituto Svizzero becomes a convivial space for questioning and listening, where the agricultural gesture of cultivation takes on a critical dimension, and the metabolic act of nourishment recalls the trophic relationship between humans and cultivated plants, as well as the difficult legacies embedded within it.
Some of the introduced species and varieties, such as so-called “ancient grains” associated with fascist agricultural policies, the Ethiopian red aubergine, tomato, maize, chilli, basil, and various types of cabbage, carry complex, layered histories. These are often histories that have been erased, distorted, or oversimplified, frequently crystallised even in the act of naming. The project seeks to unearth these layers through ecological, performative, and discursive practices. The edible zones established in the garden are conceived as living narrative devices, where working the land intersects with an archive of multispecies relations.
The project aims to examine the political, historical, and symbolic potential of plants and foodscapes, asking questions such as: How can plants become tools for exploring the colonial and authoritarian legacies that still inhabit our cultural territories? What stories emerge from the cultivation of seeds that carry memories of violence, resistance, and migration? In what ways can the daily act of eating become an act of critical awareness and historical repair?
Some of the plants have been grown from seeds belonging to the Critical Seed Library, a transnational initiative launched by Aterraterra, involving seed-saving communities from various parts of the world.
The public programme includes a workshop led by artist and researcher Sergio Rojas Chaves, a tasting session by Almaz Aweke, and a panel discussion with Ginevra Ludovici, Klara Machata, and Larissa Tiki Mbassi. In dialogue with the cultivated areas, these collective moments amplify the potential of the garden as a metabolic, political, and convivial space, where cultivation also becomes a critical gesture.
It Came from the Tropics is a botanical sculpture workshop by Sergio Rojas Chaves that explores the history of certain tropical plants brought to Europe for consumption and which later became iconic in ornamentation, design, and advertising. The workshop focuses on the transformation from crops to ornaments and invites participants to reflect on the fetishisation of foliage, ethnobotanical colonial histories, methods of representation, and the deep-rooted desire to possess what is perceived as exotic.
The session begins with an introduction to four specific plant species: the Hass avocado, Monstera deliciosa, Cavendish bananas, and golden pineapples. This introduction covers their colonial histories and relationships to Europe and the Global North. Through these narratives, participants are also presented with historical imagery showing how these plants have been depicted over time and how their representations have shifted.
Building on this foundation, participants engage in small group discussions to explore their personal relationships with these plants. These discussions serve as a starting point for creating collaborative sculptures. Drawing on visual references and personal anecdotes, the group recreates and combines characteristic elements of tropical crops using air-drying clay, a material commonly used in educational contexts. Its use resonates with the setting of the Villa Maraini garden, itself adorned with fractured sculptural elements made of stone, clay, and marble.
The goal of the workshop is to produce a sculptural chimera, an ultra-exotic botanical mix, the ultimate tropical symbol. The title of the workshop is borrowed from the 1953 film It Came from Outer Space, directed by Jack Arnold. While the film recounts an alien invasion of Earth, the workshop appropriates the title as an invitation to reflect on the strangeness and exoticism of tropical crops, how they have been perceived in Europe, and how these perceptions have evolved over time, from fascination to normalisation and, ultimately, underestimation.
The resulting sculptures aim to cast these plants in a new light, challenging the ornamental associations typically attached to them. What emerges is a “monstrous” species, perhaps not conventionally beautiful, but more reflective of how plant communities grow in tropical forests, particularly those from which these species were originally taken.
The completed works will be displayed as part of the ongoing programme of The Edible Institute II.
The event is part of the Art&Science series dedicated to the encounter between scientific research and artistic practices, curated by Ilyas Azouzi (Head of Science, Research, and Innovation) and Lucrezia Calabrò Visconti (Head Curator).
Aterraterra is a duo composed of Fabio Aranzulla and Luca Cinquemani working in a multidisciplinary manner at the intersection of art, agriculture, and science. Their research questions the possibility of cultivating and eating in ways that challenge dominant power structures while remaining critically aware of anthropocentrism. Aterraterra’s artistic projects address issues such as multispecies relationships, forms of genetic discipline in industrial agriculture, post-agricultural and post-linguistic perspectives, foraging as a practice of resistance, and the ever-shifting cultural boundary of what is considered edible. The duo also explores the difficult heritage of food plants, the relationship between cultural institutions and non-human life forms, and the ecological transformations brought about by climate change. Among their workshops, artistic projects, and food performances: Hybridising Scentscapes (with Eliza Collin, Design Museum, London); Not From Here: Plant Migrations and Human Narratives (Museum MMK für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt); Someone told us a story about nature and purity (ZACentrale, Fondazione Merz, Palermo); Foodscape 5 (Photoforum Pasquart, Biel/Bienne).
Almaz Aweke is a chef with an unconventional path, shaped by the convergence of diverse experiences and a long career in the restaurant world. For Almaz, cooking is a powerful means of connecting with her cultural roots—a way of keeping them alive and accessible through the gestures and sensory experiences of feeding and nourishing. Her approach to food is not only about preparing meals, but also a political, emotional, and communal act that creates spaces for listening, exchange, and recognition. Her culinary work moves across traditions, identities, and diasporic memories, engaging in constant dialogue with the present. Active in collaborative contexts, Almaz develops projects that centre cooking as a practice of care and resistance, as a shared language and porous space where people and stories meet. Through workshops, participatory dinners, and site-specific interventions, she experiments with formats that emphasise the encounter between community and food, helping to redefine the boundaries between cook and guest, storyteller and listener.
Ginevra Ludovici is an independent curator and PhD candidate in Analysis and Management of Cultural Heritage at IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, where she is developing her dissertation project titled “Self-initiated institutions: the case of artists-run educational platforms”. In recent years, she has collaborated with several institutions, including MoMA – The Museum of Modern Art (New York), Carpe Diem Arte e Pesquisa (Lisbon), ASK Research Centre – Art, Science, Knowledge (Milan), Lateral (Rome), Real Academia de España (Rome), Fondazione Giuliani (Rome), MACTE – Museum of Contemporary Art of Termoli, Almanac (Turin), and Galerija Remont (Belgrade). She also translated into Italian Education for Socially Engaged Art by Pablo Helguera and Joseph Beuys by Claudia Mesch for Postmedia Books. In 2023, she was the scientific coordinator of the Summer School “Dissonances. Re-interpreting and re-assessing difficult heritage” at the IMT School. She is currently the coordinator of the Italian Chapter of the Association for Critical Heritage Studies.
Klara Machata is Ph.D. candidate and Research Associate in English Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Freiburg, Germany. Her doctoral dissertation is concerned with space, place, and the Anthropocene in contemporary Anglophone literature with a focus on South Asia and Southeast Asia. Her research and teaching is informed by studies in geography and Anglophone literatures, it explores the intersection of several disciplines within the environmental humanities: ecocriticism, postcolonial theory, and political and cultural geography.
Larissa Tiki Mbassi is an exhibition curator based in Zurich and a doctoral researcher affiliated with the Departments of History and Art History at the Universities of Fribourg and Vienna. Her dissertation, titled „Black Public Space? Historical Approaches to Monuments and Colonial Symbols in Neuchâtel,“ explores the connections between colonial amnesia, colonial monuments, and Afro-diasporic activism in Neuchâtel (CH). In her dissertation Larissa aims to understand the memorial conditions created by amnesia and how these conditions shape demands for decolonizing public spaces. Her work combines historical analysis and curatorial approaches, contributing to discussions on memory politics in Switzerland. She is particularly interested in critical race theory and Studies on afro-european autochthony.
Sergio Rojas Chaves is an artist living and working between Switzerland and Costa Rica, collaborating with non-human partners such as plants and animals to challenge anthropocentrism through gift-giving and affect. Rojas Chaves has a background in architecture and community development. His works activate new relationships and tell untold stories and narratives about animals and plants, adopting affective approaches to biology. His projects—which include sculpture, installation, video, photography, and performance—have been exhibited in solo and group shows, most recently at Stadtgalerie Bern, the 12th Salon ACME in Mexico, Budapest Galéria, Macalline Art Center in Beijing, MAI in Riyadh, Kunsthaus Baselland, CAN in Neuchâtel, MAFA in Arad, Romania, MADC in San José, MAC in Panama, Fundación Paiz in Guatemala, TEOR/ética in San José, and la_cápsula in Zurich, among others. His work has also been featured in the 8th Gherdeina Biennale, the 10th Central American Biennale, and the 9th Inquieta Imagen Biennale, as well as in the Reunion Performance Festival in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and La Tigra, Honduras. Rojas Chaves co-directs the art space REUNION in San José.
Courtesy Aterraterra