Yesmine Ben Khelil's Acanthus Installation at Bergamo Botanical Garden

Tunisian artist Yesmine Ben Khelil (born 1986 in Tunis) presents "Rien ne pourra nous separer / Nothing will separate us," a pictorial installation at the Winter Garden pavilion of the Orto Botanico "Lorenzo Rota" in Bergamo, Italy. The work, produced during a residency, uses the acanthus plant as a metaphor for Mediterranean cultural and migratory dynamics. The acanthus, which grows wild in both Bergamo and Tunis, is depicted in a series of paintings on fine cotton canvas that allow light to shine through and offer partial views of the surrounding landscape. Ben Khelil's research explores folk beliefs, myths, and legends, challenging anthropocentric perspectives and redefining human-nature relationships. The acanthus, associated with a Greek myth where the nymph Acanthus was transformed into the plant, symbolizes inseparability despite its invasive and contradictory nature. The installation reflects on the symbolic meanings of the plant, mixing past and present, reality and fiction, and connecting the southern and northern shores of the Mediterranean.