Biographies

Aterraterra, founded in Palermo in 2020 by Fabio Aranzulla and Luca Cinquemani, Aterraterra is a duo that works in a multidisciplinary way, intersecting agricultural, artistic, and activist practices. Aterraterra’s research focuses on critical feeding and cultivation practices that challenge forms of oppression and are conscious of their own anthropocentrism. Among the themes addressed in the duo’s artistic projects are colonial pasts and the difficult heritage of food plants, multispecies alliances, post-agricultural and post-linguistic perspectives, the exploration of cultural boundaries concerning the concept of edibility, and foraging as a form of resistance. Aterraterra has exhibited at ZAC Centrale of the Merz Foundation in Palermo, the Design Museum in London, MUSE in Trento, MACTE in Termoli, and the Photoforum Pasquart in Biel/Bienne, and has given lectures and workshops at the MMK in Frankfurt and the Spore Initiative in Berlin.

Eliza Collin, a designer, holds a master’s degree in Material Futures from Central Saint Martins in London. She recently completed a residency as part of the Design Researchers in Residence program at the Design Museum in London, which culminated in the exhibition SOLAR, featuring works that explore the evolving relationship with heat and sunlight through multidisciplinary and collaborative approaches. Eliza’s recent research investigates the impact of climate change on the imperceptible transformations of plant scents. Her practice spans various disciplines and sees design as a crucial tool for building networks capable of triggering future actions. Her previous work, focused on the theme of water, was carried out with Policy Lab, BlueCity Rainwater Hackathon, during the Gemene Grond residency, with the British Council, and with Fondazione Studio Rizoma. In collaboration with the latter, she developed the project WET ZONES.

Andrea Pieroni, trained in medical botany at the University of Pisa, earned his PhD from the University of Bonn in Germany. He was a research assistant at the University of London (2000-2003) and served as a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at the University of Bradford in the UK. Since January 2009, he has been a Professor of Ethnobotany at the University of Pollenzo, where he also served as Rector from 2017 to 2021. Andrea Pieroni has been Vice President and President of the International Society of Ethnobiology (2008-2010), is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, and serves on the editorial boards of various international scientific journals. His research focuses on the spatial and temporal dynamics of foraging and traditional plant knowledge within minorities and diasporas in the Mediterranean, the Balkans/Eastern Europe, and especially the Near/Middle East.

Tocia! Cucina e comunità is an experimental platform active in the Venetian lagoon area, aimed at exploring the relationship between food, community, and environment, opening windows of reflection on anthropological, social, and environmental levels. Founded by chef Marco Bravetti, Tocia! seeks to challenge the short circuits structured around contemporary dichotomies such as tourist vs. citizen, human vs. non-human, industrial vs. natural, using food and the conviviality created around it as a device. For this reason, Tocia! develops and curates projects that intersect scientific, agricultural, artistic, and cultural studies, where multidisciplinary knowledge comes together for a common purpose. Projects like Convivi Acquatici, which questions the relationship between humans and aquatic spaces, or “Supper Clash. Zuppe di lotta,” which uses the concept of soup to discuss political conflicts and incongruities, are examples of this. Tocia! Cucina e comunità curates the cloister of the Floating Cinema (Ve) since its first edition; it was part of the exhibition “Italy: a new collective landscape” at the ADI Museum (Mi), within Matters of Lives; and participated in the opening of Petticoat Government, Belgium Pavilion for the 60th Venice Biennale 2024.