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Una Szeemann (*1975, Locarno, lives and works in Zurich and Tegna) Future Fossils - Acacia dealbata / Ailanthus altissima / Laurus nobilis / Phyllostachys aurea / Prunus laurocerasus / Robinia pseudoacacia / Trachycarpus fortunei - 2022 Limestone concrete 15 x 190 x 130 cm / 10 x 140 x 100 cm / 10 x 100 x 70 cm Swiss Mobiliar Art Collection In her artistic practice, Una Szeemann weaves together elements of anthropology, history, and botany. Her reflections traverse the boundaries between past and present, consciousness and the unconscious, life and memory, matter and space, giving rise to works that seek coherence within these apparent oppositions. For the artist, a close interplay exists between humans shaping their environment and nature adapting to it—and, in turn, transforming it once again. |
This relationship is explored in the installation Future Fossils, currently on display in the Villa dei Cedri Park. The work is made up of three plaques made of limestone concrete which lay on top of each other forming a small set of steps. This structure evokes the idea of ruin and suggests a feeling of abandonment. On its surface are visible the imprints of branches, trunks, leaves and roots of neophyte plants, i.e. invasive exotic plants that are partly responsible for the decline in biodiversity. These “fossils of the future” bear witness to the strict measures taken by the Swiss Confederation to control alien species and thus preserve native plants. Future Fossils represents a significant stage in Szeemann's research into the representation of memory and the omnipresence of the past in the present and future. According to the artist, in fact, nothing really disappears. The work symbolizes at the same time the idea of nature doomed to be eliminated by man and to show the arduous strengths of nature and its capability to revive even the most conquered spaces by mankind. |
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Hemauer / Keller Alberi arrabbiati, 2025 Sound installation with texts in collaboration with Monica Cantieni; voice, Roberto Regazzoni. Dendrometer, soil water potential sensor, air temperature and humidity sensor for drought stress calculation. Courtesy of the artists The second temporary installation in the Villa dei Cedri park is a project by the artist duo Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller. For over twenty years, Hemauer/Keller have been working at the intersection of art and science, and were therefore invited to bring their perspective to the park of Villa dei Cedri. Together with the writer Monica Cantieni, the duo has given a voice to the mighty copper beeches in the Villa dei Cedri garden in 25 short texts describing the stress they experience from the drought to which they are exposed, and how they react. For more information on the project: here |
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Homeland Fictions (a Constellation) by Swiss artist Monica Ursina Jäger was the first temporary art installation to be placed in the Park. Visible between September 2023 and November 2024, the work consisted of three large steam-bent oak rings which, like a great embrace, surrounded one of the majestic beech trees in the Villa dei Cedri. The embrace of the oak rings with the beech - a plant that is particularly hard hit by climate change - represented a dialogue between two species that have determined, and continue to determine, the characteristics of Swiss forests and their history, while also reminding us of today's ecological urgency. For more information: here In 2027, the Museo Villa dei Cedri will be devoting a retrospective exhibition to Monica Ursina Jäger, in collaboration with Kunstmuseum Thun. |
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