REGIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF TURIN
Expected dates: November 2016 - 2021

Triennial project for the creation of an original cultural path focused on a specific plant element: the leaf. The project takes strength from combining the different knowledges and purposes of the Sehen Foundation and the Regional Museum of Natural Sciences of Turin.

Three plant types have been identified for this project, which are widely distributed in nature and intensely represented in the photographic art since its origins in the early 19th Century: fern, palm, water lily. The analysis of the evolution of art photographs dedicated to the leaf theme is supported by scientific topics and placed side by side to botanical museum specimens.

The artistic analysis by the Sehen Foundation is based on the evolution of photography dedicated to the leaf subject: from the first contact prints made in 1836 by Fox Talbot to the contemporary artistic research. The scientific examination, conducted through the analysis of dried specimens, leads to the discovering of the inner structure of the leaves, their function, and the adaptive and evolutionary significance of their forms.

The project is put into effect with the publication of a volume, in Italian and English, and with an international traveling exhibition presented in Turin.

For more information: Museum of Natural Sciences of Turin.