Urban Forest Transforms Gallerie d'Italia Courtyard in Turin

The Urban Woods project expands to Gallerie d'Italia in Piazza San Carlo, Turin, transforming the museum's internal courtyard into a green oasis. Following the success of the Bosco degli scrittori at the 2022 Salone del Libro, created with Àboca, twelve six-meter-tall trees of various species—including olive, birch, holm oak, and eucalyptus—will be available to visitors, students, and citizens starting Friday, September 6. The installation underscores Intesa Sanpaolo's commitment to environmental sustainability, previously expressed through exhibitions such as Paolo Pellegrin's 'La fragile meraviglia' (May 2022), Cesura's water-themed photos, Cristina Mittemeier's ocean images, and the upcoming 'American Nature' by Mitch Epstein (October 17, 2024 – March 2, 2025), which will create dialogues with the urban forest. Artist XEL (Alessandro Ussia, born 1975 in Turin), known for exploring nature reclaiming urban spaces, created a site-specific work inside the galleries in harmony with the external forest. Michele Coppola, general director of Gallerie d'Italia, stated that the forest enriches the space as a place of health and beauty, open to all, and aligns with the museum's photographic narrative on climate crisis and planetary defense.