“Ye were not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.” (Dante,Canto XXVI of Inferno – our translation)

In the famous verse from Canto XXVI of the Inferno, Dante invites human beings to emancipate themselves from unreasonable instincts, often driven by self-interest, in order to cultivate what makes them fully human: the pursuit of goodness and knowledge. It is a powerful reminder of the moral and intellectual responsibility to recognize value, harmony and interconnectedness in what we experience.

It is precisely in this perspective that biodiversity is revealed not only as a biological datum, but as a heritage of living beauty, understood as an interweaving of forms, relationships and meanings that demand attention, study and contemplation that can even go so far as to upset the current aesthetic expression.

Following “virtue and knowledge” today also means this: caring for the fragility of the living, opposing the blind exploitation of natural resources, and recognizing that every act of knowledge can also be an act of love and conservation. This exhibition aims to remind us that we are not made to destroy, but to love, know, cherish and narrate the many forms of biodiversity in the world. In particular, it invites us to observe biodiversity as an expression of beauty, (and dimension) to be protected and enhanced through multidisciplinary approaches.

The exhibition aims to explore different ways of knowing and communicating biodiversity, dwelling on three main axes: Representation, Nutrition and Musealization.