Museo Egizio di Torino Reopens Gardens with New Ancient Egyptian Installation

The Gardens of the Museo Egizio di Torino reopened on May 1 after a month-long closure, featuring a new permanent installation titled "Giardini egizi: l'orto e il giardino funerario" (Egyptian Gardens: The Vegetable Garden and the Funerary Garden). The installation reconstructs a vegetable garden and a funerary garden on the museum's Roof Garden, based on archaeological excavations, archaeobotanical studies, and pictorial evidence. The funerary garden is inspired by a garden discovered in Egypt in front of a tomb, characterized by cornflowers with particular symbolic value. Egyptologist Cedric Gobeil, curator of the project alongside Divina Centore, explained to Repubblica that they reproduced the same structure with squares of about 35 centimeters side by side forming a grid, each containing a different plant. The vegetable garden consists of fruits and vegetables inspired by those owned by the elite of Ancient Egypt. The installation is part of the programming for the bicentennial of the Museo Egizio, directed by Christian Greco. Other upcoming projects include the renovation of the museum led by David Gianotten of OMA – Office for Metropolitan Architecture (with Andrea Tabocchini Architecture and Guendalina Salimei of T-Studio among Italian partners), which includes the creation of a "Piazza Egizia," a multifunctional courtyard conceived as a public space accessible beyond museum hours.