Siena: Urban Agriculture, Marjetica Potrč, 2003

On the occasion of the 8th edition of Art to Art, the curators Elio Grazioli and Hou Hanru invited the Slovenian artist Marjetica Potrč to carry out an installation at Siena.

"The Slovenian artist Marjetica Potrč is deeply engaged in exploring living conditions and contemporary urban expansion, as well as the tension between urban development and social crisis, such as the rise in poverty and the ecological emergency—both reflections of the conflicts present in our globalized era. The artist visits several “difficult places” in the world, such as Africa and South America, to bear witness to this new urban condition. Recently, Marjetica Potrč has been working on the theme of urban agriculture, seen as a reassuring possibility in response to the growing disconnection between city dwellers and nature. Responding to the economic and geographical context of the Tuscan region, where Arte all’Arte takes place, Marjetica Potrč decided to contribute with a site-specific project focused on urban agriculture. She points out that “future wars will be fought over water, not oil, and they will take place in cities.” As an example of a future urban agriculture experiment, her proposal is to create an actual vegetable garden on the rooftop of a private home in Siena. The artist has installed systems for collecting and recycling rainwater, making it possible to supply the necessary water both for growing vegetables and for daily household use. All of this undoubtedly raises questions about the ecological future of the city. Even more remarkably, Potrč reintroduces experiments carried out in the cities of the “non-Western” world into the very heart of Western history, demonstrating the irreversible nature of today’s globalization process: it is not only human migration that is changing the Western world. Various forms of negotiating and reinventing modern technologies, and lifestyles tested outside the West, are now being brought into the light to improve the developed Western world—and Siena is one of these laboratories."

Arte all’Arte VIII, 2003