The performance series En plein air, presents „ESTRANEE“, an action as part of the project „Avant que nature meure“ by Silvia Cini, winner of the Italian Council 2022.

In Munich, Silvia Cini will analyse a portion of spontaneous vegetation, a segment of the anthropized urban territory reclaimed by nature. With the support of experts, she will systematically categorise part of the present vegetal species, to individuate their native range compared to their new belonging one.

„ESTRANEE“ emphasizes the layered collection of plant species that characterize the landscape. The central theme is the observation of urban nature as a metaphor, on the one hand for social phenomena and on the other for ecological phenomena. As part of this work, which the artist has continued over the years, non-native plants become carriers of an unavoidable biological and social transformation. In addition, urban nature is also examined as a bioindicator for the social life of a city. By marking the non-native plants, the practice of categorization is critically questioned and problematized.

Anyone interested is cordially invited to take part in this process.

Silvia Cini was a co-founder of Gruppo Immagine and worked with Keith Haring on the realization of the mural „Tuttomondo“ in Pisa. In 1994, together with Salvatore Falci, she founded the AAVV group in Milan and worked with Cesare Pietroiusti on projects such as „DisorsordinAzioni“, „Il Gioco del Senso e Nonsenso“, (XII Quadriennale di Roma) and the „Oreste Group“, with which she took part in the 48th Venice Biennale. In 2000 she received the Fabio Mauri Studio Prize at the Galleria Comunale d’Arte Moderna Rome, now known as MACRO; in 2004 she was awarded the Duchessa Galliera Prize by the city of Genoa on the occasion of the Villa Croce Museum’s designation as European Capital of Culture 2004. In 2022 she was one of the winners of the eleventh edition of the Italian Council – AMBITO 1.

The Kunstraum München – En plein air is one of the international stages of Silvia Cini’s project „Avant que nature meure“, which is realized thanks to the support of the Italian Council (XI edition, 2022), a program of the Italian Ministry of Culture for the international promotion of contemporary Italian art. The project is organized by the Museo Orto Botanico of the University „La Sapienza“ in Rome, in collaboration with CareOf, Fondazione Lac o Le Mon, Hellenic Society for Nature Conservation, Hungarian Garden Heritage Foundation, MAMbo, Museu da Amazonia and PAV Parco Arte Vivente.

ESTRANEE is part of the Various Others Spring Edition 2024.