Echoes of a lost world

The exhibition curated by Turinese painter and poet Floriana Porta represents an unprecedented artistic and scientific synergy hosted in the fascinating setting of the’former Gesù church. Through around thirty works on paper, the artist pays tribute to the Po Valley Sea and its immense fossil heritage, using watercolours shades indigo blue e rust red to evoke atmospheres suspended between past and present. The exhibition explores the dialogue between the feminine spirit, symbol of fertility and life, and the wildlife, represented by delicate fronds of ferns reminiscent of the thousand-year-old plant remains in the collections of the Palaeontological Museum.

The exhibition takes the form of a poetic conversation centred on the themes of the memory, of the origins and theecology. The works, influenced by the artistic legacy of the author's father, the designer Alessandro Porta, cohabit with local palaeontological evidence, such as the whales and shell outcrops typical of the geosites Astians. To enrich the sensory experience, visitors are accompanied by the notes of “Whales lost in time“a song composed by Gae Captain, and by the poems of the same gate, creating an indissoluble link between visual art, music e literature in homage to the biodiversity of the Astigiano Palaeontological Park.