PRIMAVERA SILENZIOSA

21 MARCH – 22 APRIL 2025

JOAN JONAS, JESSE JONES, ROMANA LONDI, LULÙ NUTI, SARA CWYNAR, MARIE MENKEN, HOPE ATHERTON, TIPHAINE CALMETTES & LOUIS DANJOU

“IT IS NOT HALF SO IMPORTANT TO KNOW AS TO FEEL” RACHEL CARSON

NAMED AFTER THE WORK OF BIOLOGIST AND ENVIRONMENTALIST RACHEL CARSON (1962), PRIMAVERA SILENZIOSA (SILENT SPRING) TRANSFORMS THE GALLERY INTO AN IMMERSIVE AND SPECULATIVE LABORATORY, EXPLORING THE INTERSECTION OF SCIENCE WRITING, STORYTELLING, AND SPECULATIVE fiCTION. RATHER THAN PRIORITIZING SCIENTIfiC FACTS, PRIMAVERA SILENZIOSA CELEBRATES CARSON’S POETIC APPROACH AND EXPLORES ART’S POTENTIAL TO ILLUMINATE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD, FOR SCIENCE “CAN ACCURATELY DESCRIBE PHENOMENA FROM THE OUTSIDE, [WHILE] POETRY (THE ESSENCE OF ART) ACCURATELY DESCRIBES THEM FROM WITHIN” (URSULA K. LE GUIN).

THIS EXHIBITION AND PROGRAM DELVE INTO THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SCIENTIfiC INQUIRY, NARRATIVE CONSTRUCTION, AND THE IMAGINATIVE POSSIBILITIES OF SPECULATIVE FICTION. IN THIS CONTEXT, SPECULATIVE FICTION SIGNIFIES A DEPARTURE FROM STRICT REALISM, EMBRACING ELEMENTS OF FANTASY, AND ALLEGORY TO EXPLORE COMPLEX THEMES AND GENERATE NEW PERSPECTIVES. IT ACKNOWLEDGES THE SUBJECTIVE NATURE OF EXPERIENCE AND THE POWER OF IMAGINATION IN SHAPING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD, PARTICULARLY CONCERNING SCIENTIFIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.