Global Soil Partnership

Art exhibition - Heart and Soil

“Heart and Soil” is an exhibition about the connection between contemporary art and soils that will take place at FAO headquarters in Rome from 20 to 22 June 2017.

Soil is crucial for food security, ecosystem health and sustainable development. Despite this, we place our soil at risk from erosion, soil sealing and contamination in many areas in the world. Art complements scientific research by allowing us to grasp, in visual terms, the consequences that damaging and degrading our soils will have for future generations. It adds urgency to the message that we need to act now. In this age of growing environmental responsibility, art provides other narratives that link us, deeply and emotionally, to the soil from which life springs.

Embedding soils in art allows artists to provide a deep and transformational examination of the importance of soil in paintings, sculptures and mark making. The exhibition is part of the Global Soil Partnership communication campaign aimed at elevating attention on how healthy soils are crucial for our very existence. The inauguration ceremony will take place on 20 June 2017 at the conclusion of the first day of the 5th GSP Plenary Assembly.

Eduardo Mansur, Director of the Land and Water Division will officially launch the exhibition, which sees eight internationally renowned artists embed soils into visual art using soil as a source material or a pigment. Eminent harpist Micol Picchioni will play at the launch, inviting the participants to discover the artworks to the melodic sound of the ancient musical instrument, thus forming an ebbing and flowing soil symphony. The harp is for the sound what the prism is for the light. The sound split in its main elements reveals that of the ground.

ATRIUM, FAO HQ  -  TUESDAY, 20 JUNE 2017 | 17:00 - OPENING OF THE ART EXHIBITION

The artists are collaborating pro bono with FAO for this temporary exhibition to help raise awareness on the importance of soil to human existence:

  • Quirino Cipolla SCULPTOR
  • Francesca Lolli VIDEO PERFORMER
  • Alfredo Macchi PHOTOGRAPHER
  • Roberto Mannino PAINTER
  • Rossella Pezzino de Geronimo PHOTOGRAPHER
  • Micol Picchioni HARPIST
  • Alessandro Rabboni PHOTOGRAPHER
  • Angelica Romeo PAINTER 
Date
20 Jun 2017
- 22 Jun 2017
Location
FAO hq | Rome, Italy