Paradise Lost

The installation artwork “Paradise Lost,”  artists David Allen Burns and Austin Young / Fallen Fruit , drawing inspiration from historical image collections preserved at the Museo della Figurina, create an immersive environment that fills drapery and walls, reconstructing a kind of “lost paradise.” Just a few steps from the Botanical Garden, a site-specific installation by the Californian duo is on view. In an environment rich with images and evocative elements, there are also specimens of taxidermy animals on display, on loan from the Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, part of the Unimore Museum and Botanical Garden system. Wolves, foxes, monkeys, birds, iguanas, and toads — silent witnesses immersed in the artwork — seem to come back to life, reminding us of the fragility of existence and the balance of nature.