Evelyn Tovar Toro's 'Fra Ruderi' at Chiasso Perduto, Florence

Colombian artist Evelyn Tovar Toro presents 'Fra Ruderi', a site-specific installation at Chiasso Perduto in Florence, running from September 10 to 13, 2026. The exhibition, curated by Sandra Miranda Pattin and Francesca Morozzi, opens on Thursday September 10 at 17:30, with open hours from Friday to Sunday, 15:00 to 19:00. Tovar Toro's work investigates territory through ruderal plants—species that thrive in spaces altered by human presence, such as cracks in walls and rooftops. For this installation, she focuses on two plants: the caper, edible and able to grow in any crevice, and artemisia, which carries symbolic and dreamlike connotations linked to protection and dreams across various traditions. The subterranean condition of the venue becomes a key element, allowing viewers to imagine ruderal plants growing from below the surface, constantly seeking light. Tovar Toro constructs roots from fragments of obsolete dictionaries, transforming archival materials, botanical classifications, encyclopedias, and language into visual matter. Words become roots and echoes of the past, with archaic terms chosen to symbolize evolution. The artist shifts focus from the city's grand narratives of history and heritage to the marginal, persistent life forms that grow silently among centuries of stone, cement, and lime. The installation suggests that from the depths and margins, the territory may reveal an alternative story.