Ars Electronica Garden Santiago de Chile

A Fungus Garden

Museo del Hongo (CL)

A Fungus Garden is a digital exhibition that invites you to know more about the importance of Fungi and the beautiful metaphors they provide to interpellate our own existence. Through 3D models of mushrooms, a 360º tour, videoart, live and sound performance, A Fungus Garden reclaims attention for these largely invisible organisms that are essential to life as we know it.

A Fungus Garden

The semantic universe of the word garden is often related to a designed outdoor space, either for leisure or the cultivation of edible plants. In the same idealized imagery, the fungi kingdom is represented through bright and colorful mushrooms, like the famous *Amanita muscaria. But what is the role of fungi in a garden?

Invisible organisms acting underneath the soil, carrying information through the ecosystem, digesting dead matter; fungi are among the most active components in a garden’s sustainability. However, it is estimated that we only know 5% of the world’s fungal biodiversity. In times in which human activity is altering our entire planet, learning from our natural recyclers will definitely contribute to a more sustainable future for humanity.

How would a fungus-only garden look like? There are some known fungus gardens made by termites and ants. These insects cultivate fungal mycelium inside their underground galleries in order to feed from it. Both organisms, insect and fungus, create a symbiosis that maintains the balance.

A Fungus Garden is a digital exhibition which invites you to know more about the importance of fungi and their marginality, being often associated with death. Through a multimedia online experience around the fungi kingdom, A Fungus Garden approaches human decay as a symbol of mystery and beauty, noticing the invisible webs in which we are embedded.

Preview Video

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Timetable

Program

Project Credits / Acknowledgements

Curator: Juan Ferrer
Artists: Juan Ferrer, Iván Navarro, José Bidegain, Futuro Fósil, Sebastián Calfuqueo, Alexandra Mabes, Nicolás Oyarce, Ana Rosa Ibáñez.
Collaborators: Courtney Smith, Especie Axial, Hueso Records, Fundación Fungi, Sala de máquinas.
This project is a cooperation between the Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio, the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores | Gobierno de Chile and Ars Electronica

Download

Exhibition brochure PDF (EN)

Press Kit (EN)

Press Kit (ES)

Museo del Hongo
Chile