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Succulent Voyage

Summer workshop “Madelabs” 
with Fernando Laposse
curated by Formafantasma & Moncada Rengel

2019, Sicily


“In this workshop we focused on two plants, the opuntia or prickly pear and the agave. Both plants were introduced to Sicily from Mexico in the XVII century to make innovative materials. Since then, they have become such a common sight in the wild that many Italians consider them endemic to the area. In Sicily cacti are featured in buildings and plazas and even in their ceramic crafts, yet most people are unaware of their excellent abilities to be transformed into different materials. Participants learned about why these plants made this transatlantic voyage and were introduced to traditional mesoamerican techniques to make everything from textiles, varnishes, dyes, and stucco from their fibers and pulp National ideologies are on the rise and their rhetoric is that to preserve one’s country’s identity we have to demonise foreign ideas, cultures and people. The story of the relationship of Sicilians to their beloved cacti is a reminder that what we consider local is often global and it will continue to change as the world is irreversibly interconnected.” Fernando Laposse

Collaborative piece with:
Sofia Clementina Hosszufalussy
Giorgia Mocilnik
Alyssum Quaglia



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