Lo Spettro dell’Acqua

Lo Spettro dell’Acqua (1) is the second solo exhibition of artist Annalisa Mercuri, curated by Federica Viola (2) in collaboration with the Accademia Cignaroli e Scuola Brenzoni di Pittura e Scultura (3). The exhibition was supported by Erbè Town Hall, Isola della Scala Town Hall and sustained by the 57ª Fiera del Riso, Ente Fiera Isola della Scala, AIAMS – Associazione Italiana Amici dei Mulini Storici, Cooperativa Ca’ Magre agricoltura biologica, and Antiche Contrade associations (4-5).

The exhibition explores the fragile threshold between presence and dissolution, where water, in its changing states, becomes a metaphor for time, memory, transformation, and life, suggesting possible and urgent paths forward. Through works that intertwine intimate gestures and collective rituals, Annalisa Mercuri explains how, in our contemporary world, it is urgent to rediscover slowness, care, and connection. At its core is The World Weather Diary, a participatory project launched on April 22, 2024, as an invitation to reflect on our shared responsibility toward the planet. It has involved 160 people in 43 countries worldwide in a collaborative effort of observation and creation.
In parallel, exploring the local dimension, Mercuri collects water footprints from the Adige, Garda, Adriatic, and Tartaro rivers, presenting works on fine paper to the public, including the precious Narushima Washi. A symbol of a living and fragile memory, it was also used for the significant reopening of the Mulino Novo in Erbè, returned, with commitment and foresight, to the territory and the community. Annalisa Mercuri’s artistic practice is a meditation on time that becomes a poetic gesture, an invitation to return to listening to the world around us, to which we belong, to which we are.

Edited by Federica Viola

The artworks can be virtually viewed at this link.

Images from the exhibition: