Formafantasma announced as ecology advisor to Serpentine Galleries

Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of design studio Formafantasma have been named the first-ever lead research and development fellows of ecology for London’s Serpentine Galleries.

Beginning this summer, the duo will evaluate the sustainability credentials of the Serpentine Galleries‘ day-to-day activities and help to shape its long-term environmental strategy.

Trimarchi and Farresin will advise across the board, from curatorial guidance for exhibitions to examining the gallery’s wider civic duty in relation to the climate crisis.

The three-year collaboration will begin with an in-depth period of research to assess the institution’s current processes and systems and identify opportunities for change.

A public programme will run alongside this work, where audiences will be able to give feedback on the findings that emerge from Formafantasma‘s ongoing research.

“As we move from theory to action, we will prioritise approaches that can begin locally and scale systematically,” said Trimarchi and Farresin.

“We look forward to collaboratively reimagining the civic role of institutions, from curatorial processes to questions about space, resources, labour, and ecology, and to creating new platforms for dialogue that acknowledge urgency while insisting on knowledge, complexity, and accountability,” they added.

Trimarchi and Farresin are known for their research-heavy, interdisciplinary design projects, which have ranged from a three-act play exploring the legacy of modernism to an exhibition unravelling the history of wool production.

The duo began their partnership with Serpentine Galleries in 2020, when they presented Cambio, a show investigating the global impact of the timber industry.

Trimarchi and Farresin consider their latest advisory role to be an extension of that ongoing project.

“We will continue a conversation that began with Cambio, which approached design as a complex and often contradictory agent within the ecological crisis, simultaneously part of the problem and a potential space for transformation,” they said.

The photography is by George Darrell unless stated otherwise.

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