The CLIMAVORE Assembly brought together an international gathering of farmers and growers, artists, chefs, cooperatives, hospitality businesses, researchers, cultural thinkers, environmentalists, policymakers, and live seed custodians involved in reimagining the role of museums and cultural institutions as agents of transformation within the climate crisis.

Taking place over three days, the Assembly was situated in the great hall of the Museo della Civiltà in Rome, a monument constructed by Mussolini’s government in the 1940s for the planned Esposizione universale. The proposed assembly setting evokes a 1984 termite infestation that gnawed away at the surrounding fascist masterplan and timber models of Rome. A series of four scaled up termite mounds sit within the vast space, creating an intimacy for the seated participants and reducing the echo for standing speakers. The encircling heaps were constructed from produce boxes and string, such that all materials were entirely donated to local food cooperatives.

Photos - Stan Chick, Maggie Law, Giulia Valentini, and Mohamed Keita