Marco Maria Zanin brings his "Acacia" to the Palace of Museums in Reggio Emilia.

From March 28 to July 27, 2025, Palazzo dei Musei in Reggio Emilia welcomes Acacia, an artistic intervention by Marco Maria Zanin (Padua, 1983) that blends contemporary art, archaeology and anthropology. The project, curated by Irene Biolchini, Alessandro Gazzotti and Giada Pellegrini, was created at the initiative of the Civic Museums of Reggio Emilia, with the support of PAC2024 - Plan for Contemporary Art promoted by the General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture. The exhibition itinerary is developed within the Gaetano Chierici Museum of Palethnology, a space that has long stood out for its innovative approach to the dialogue between past and present. The long-standing collaboration between the Civic Museums and architect Italo Rota has transformed the collections into a laboratory of experimentation, with displays that relate different eras and redefine the role of the contemporary museum.

A personal memory becomes a universal quest

The heart of the project sinks into the artist’s biographical events: the loss of his twin sister before birth, to whom he gave the symbolic name Acacia. From this absence Zanin develops a body of works that reflect on mourning, transformation and the value of memory. Sculpture, ceramics, bronze, glass, and weaving compose a contemporary funeral trousseau, in which objects dialogue with archaeological artifacts from the museum’s collection.

The artifacts created by the artist do not merely evoke the past, but rewrite it through new forms of narrative. Acacia is a project that reflects on the ability of objects to traverse time, becoming instruments of connection between individual experience and collective memory. The archaeological collection is thus transformed into a dynamic archive, capable of provoking new readings and stimulating reflections on the relationship between the past and the present.

Art and craftsmanship: a dialogue between materials and memory

Zanin’s working methodology is based on research that combines art and anthropology, exploring the transformative capacity of materials. To create Acacia’s works, the artist collaborated with artisans selected through the Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte, an institution that promotes and protects high artistic craftsmanship. Each piece on display bears the signature of the artist and that of the artisan who made it, underscoring the value of shared creation. The ceramic sculptures, made with Antonino Negri(Lodi), are inspired by ancient funerary urns and hold the traces of an invisible legacy. Bronze artifacts, produced with the Tuorlo workshop in Padua, evoke an unlived childhood, while textiles, created in the workshops ofAtelier Giuditta Brozzetti (Perugia), weave together stories of separation and research. Glass, shaped by Simone Crestani(Vicenza), recalls alchemical tools and symbols of transformation, suggesting a path of sublimation and rebirth.

Alongside these elements, photography takes a central role in the project, interweaving scientific research, anthropological documentation and poetic imagery. Through images, Zanin constructs a visual narrative that traverses the cycle of life and loss, offering a reflection on the symbolic value of objects and their ability to convey emotions and memories.

A museum in transformation

With Acacia, the Gaetano Chierici Museum confirms itself as a space for experimentation, capable of questioning its role and redefining the relationship between the public and its collections. The project is part of the broader debate on the function of the contemporary museum, exploring new models of artistic production and new approaches to heritage enhancement.

The exhibition program will be accompanied by a series of interdisciplinary meetings featuring prominent scholars and curators, including Anna Castelli, Alberto Cavalli, Matteo Lucchetti, Sara Ricciardi, and Marco Scotini. Discussions will focus on the role of art in reinterpreting archaeological collections and the potential of the museum as a space for shared creation. Documenting the project will be a bilingual catalog with critical texts and images of the exhibition, whose graphic design is curated by Giulia Boccarossa. In addition, a video made by Stefano Rizzato will recount the process of creating the works, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the genesis of the project.

Notes about the artist

Marco Maria Zanin is an artist, researcher, and activist. After graduating in Modern Humanities, he pursued studies in International Relations and is currently pursuing a PhD in Anthropology at ISCTE/NOVA in Lisbon, with a research entitled Potentialities in the frontier between art and artifact. Her work explores the connections between human beings and the land, highlighting practices and rituals that, through a cross-cultural approach, strengthen ties between communities and the land, enhancing life in all its forms.

His most recent solo exhibitions include Soil Kinships (2021), curated by Matteo Lucchetti at the Galleria Spazio Nuovo in Rome; Strati di tempo nella Chiesa di Sant’Agnese (2021) at the Casa dei Tre Oci in Venice; Le Opere e i Giorni (2019), curated by Antonio Grulli at the Musei Civici di Bassano; As Obras e os Dias (2017), curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, at Pivô Arte e Pesquisa in São Paulo; God is in the Fragments (2017), curated by Daniele De Luigi at the Galleria Civica in Modena; O Lado Direito do Avesso (2015), curated by Paulo Miyada at the Oficina Cultural Oswald de Andrade in São Paulo. His works are part of public and private collections, including MART, Museo Morandi, Fondazione Modena Arti Visive, Fondazione Brodbeck, Fondazione Alberto Peruzzo, MAM in Rio de Janeiro, and the Salsali Museum in Dubai.

Practical information

Opening hours September to June: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays > 10am-1pm; Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays > 10am-6pm.

Opening hours July: Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday and holidays > 10am-1pm; Wednesday, Friday and Saturday > 10am-1pm / 9pm-24pm.

Admission: free

Marco Maria Zanin brings his "Acacia" to the Palace of Museums in Reggio Emilia.

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