The Gherdeina Biennale offered me the space to explore the hidden world beneath our feet. I immersed myself in the study of roots, soil and the silent architecture that holds trees in place. From this research emerged my installation Mushroom, created in the underground of the historic Adler Hotel.
My initial intention was to express that nature always finds its way inside, even into the most controlled domestic spaces. Harmony becomes possible only when we welcome nature fully instead of separating ourselves from it. For this reason, I imagined roots spreading across the cellar floor, continuing their quiet life among us.
Because the floor was uneven and the conditions unpredictable, the installation transformed. What I envisioned as roots gently emerging became a sweeping mass, as if pushed down by water, storm and gravity. The result resembled a natural avalanche, a force familiar to the region of the Dolomites where landslides often threaten villages and lives. Two weeks after the exhibition opened, a similar environmental event occurred nearby, echoing the work uncannily.
This experience taught me that it is not nature that must adapt to us. It is we who must change everything if we hope that nature can still hold us. The final word always belongs to the land. The mountains and skies will endure with or without us. The question remains whether we choose to honour nature in our hearts and our actions or continue clinging to a system that harms us first.
