Ernesto Neto: FROM EARTH TO EARTH

Tenna, Innerberg, near Waterfall – GPS: 46.740160, 9.326800 – from Tenna (Mitte) ca. 25 Min.

In a ritual performance with music, song and dance, the “soul ribbons” from Neto’s sculpture “HealingBugAcupunEarth”, which was created in 2023 for the Elevation 1049 festival in Gstaad, were returned to Mother Earth. After a procession through the mountain village of Tenna and a forest, the ribbons were wrapped in a tight bundle, placed in a previously dug hole in the ground near a waterfall and covered with earth. A willow seedling was planted in the west and a wooden stick with white ribbons in the east commemorates the ritual. This will be removed after the Biennale, but the ribbons will remain forever in the earth of the Safiental. The work reminds us that everything we produce and consume comes from the earth and returns to it. (JH)

BIO: Ernesto Neto is a visual artist based in Rio de Janeiro.
MEDIUM: Installation, performance, documentation
COLLABORATION: Claudia König, Wellington Soares, Christina Hemauer, Roman Keller, Paloma Ayala, Monica Ursina Jaeger, Anna Af Sillén de Mesquita e Leandro Zappala (Quarto) with Lua and Rio, Sujit Mallik, Farah Mulla, Dani Buchli, Werkdienst Safiental, Thomas Rickenmann
SUPPORT: Luma Foundation, Atelienave, Luma Foundation, Galeria Fortes D‘Aloia & Gabriel, Alpgenossenschaft Tenna, Gemeinde Safiental, Urs Karli
CURATOR: Johannes M. Hedinger