Following the success of its first edition, Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte and UNIDEE Residency Programs, in collaboration with UniCredit Group, renew the project Ecosystems as Living Communities as part of the 2025–26 connective residencies. The initiative supports artistic research and production in response to contemporary ecological challenges, strengthening the dialogue between art, science, and society, while actively contributing to sustainable transformation.

In continuity with the Foundation’s mission and the vision of Michelangelo Pistoletto, the project invites us to consider ecosystems as living communities, shaped by interdependent relationships between human and non-human beings. Moving beyond anthropocentric perspectives, the residency promotes an ecocentric vision aimed at building regenerative futures, in dialogue with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The two production residencies feature Emma Zerial and Eliza Collin, and will take place between February and April 2026 at Cittadellarte, following a schedule developed in dialogue with the artists and tailored to the specific needs of each project. This period is dedicated to research, interdisciplinary exchange, and the production of artworks, in close collaboration with tutors, researchers, and experts from scientific, technological, and humanistic fields, as well as with the local territory and civil society. The public presentation of the works is scheduled for mid-May 2026, on the occasion of the 28th edition of Arte al Centro; the artworks will subsequently enter the UniCredit Art Collection, further strengthening the link between artistic experimentation and a commitment to sustainability.

Emma Zerial: Subsurface Ecologies

Emma Zerial is a designer and researcher whose practice develops across territorial studies, media theory, and environmental sensing technologies. Through fieldwork, sound recordings, and moving images, she investigates subsurface ecologies, mineral extractivism, and the ways in which geophysical and remote sensing technologies contribute to constructing political and symbolic representations of the planet.

The project she is developing at Cittadellarte focuses on Punta Corna, an area currently affected by renewed extractive activity linked to concessions for cobalt, silver, and nickel. The research examines how these processes are transforming the territory, its ecologies, and the collective imaginary, critically questioning the narratives of the so-called “green transition.” Through dialogue with local knowledge, scientific infrastructures, and geological data, Zerial challenges extractive logics that risk being reproduced even within sustainability paradigms.

Particular attention is given to the material conditions underlying the production of environmental data and to the ways in which sensing technologies can render a territory readable, governable, or expendable, while also opening up possibilities for resistance and the critical reappropriation of knowledge.

Eliza Collin: Adaptive and Resilient Alpine Ecologies

Eliza Collin, a British artist, is a researcher, filmmaker, and producer. She works at the intersection of ecology, climate research, and community resilience, developing collaborative and site-specific projects that connect people, landscapes, and environmental systems. Her practice is grounded in methodologies such as ethnography, walking, co-design, and participant observation, and takes form through films, installations, and publications.

The project she is developing during the residency explores how climate change is reshaping alpine species, ecosystem relationships, and cultural practices in mountain regions. In collaboration with scientists and local Alpine communities, Collin investigates future climate scenarios, processes of cultural adaptation, and strategies for ecological resilience, while also critically examining shifting notions of pristine nature and conservation in alpine environments.

Her research, rooted in place and oriented toward the long term, seeks to make complex scientific issues accessible, activating forms of public engagement capable of influencing how communities imagine and build their futures.

Curatorial Framework and Vision

This second edition is curated by UNIDEE Residency Programs in dialogue with Angela Serino, a member of the program’s Advisory Board. Her research on residencies as learning environments and on alternative temporalities contributes to strengthening the project’s theoretical and methodological framework, placing processes of self-reflection, ecological belonging, and transformative pedagogies at its core.

The selection of the artists was entrusted to the Advisory Board — Andy Abbott, Beatrice Catanzaro, Juan Sandoval, Alessandra Saviotti, and Angela Serino — ensuring a collective and international perspective capable of valuing artistic quality, project coherence, and the transformative potential of the proposals.

With this new edition of Ecosystems as Living Communities, developed together with UniCredit, Fondazione Pistoletto further consolidates its commitment to supporting artistic practices that foster alliances between art, science, and society, promoting a cultural transformation that recognizes ecosystems as living, interdependent communities.

UNIDEE Residency Programs
of Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte

Director: Juan E. Sandoval
Program Coordinator: Clara Tosetti
Research and Production Coordinator: Annalisa Zegna
Program Assistant: Laura Bellinazzo

Director of Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte: Paolo Naldini

https://unidee.cittadellarte.it/