Goia Mujalli's 'Flor de Papel' at Essiccatoio Art Residency in Gagliano del Capo

Goia Mujalli, a Brazilian-born artist based in London, has completed a residency at Essiccatoio Art Residency in Gagliano del Capo, Italy. Her exhibition, 'Flor de Papel,' runs at the residency space, a former tobacco drying house. The show explores the migration and spread of tropical plants, using extracts from the bougainvillea plant on canvas and in embroidery. Mujalli's work intertwines her own story as a Brazilian living in Europe with that of 18th-century French explorer Jeanne Baret, who disguised herself as a man to join Louis Antoine de Bougainville's expedition and discovered the plant. It also references her paternal grandmother, Helena Jorge Mujalli, who embroidered secretly from her husband. The Essiccatoio Art Residency, active since summer 2020, is run by the Zigiotti family, who fell in love with the 19th-century building in 2003. The space has four distinct rooms and aims to be a cultural hub year-round.