With sugar in the mouth
Gianfranco Baruchello, Binta Diaw, Gina Fischli, Pauline Julier, Oz Oderbolz, Sergio Rojas Chaves, Virginie Sistek, Milva Stutz

The group exhibition With sugar in the mouth explores the relationship between resource extraction and sweetness. The project is inspired by the villa that now houses the Swiss Institute in Rome, once owned by Carolina Maraini-Sommaruga and Emilio Maraini, Ticinese pioneers in the sugar beet industry. Taking sugar and the history of its production as a starting point, the exhibition addresses the imagery associated with resource exploitation, exposing how notions of sweetness, romanticism, and desire often contribute to sugarcoating narratives of domestication and conquest.

The exhibition presents new and existing works by artists who work with sculpture, painting, installation, and film. Through historical references, autobiographical narratives, or fictional stories, the protagonists of these works confront the construction of the concept of nature, revealing the narrative strategies that conceal the exploitation of animals, resources, lands, and communities. The works on display address the narrative motifs and images we are accustomed to in this context, breaking free from the naive, escapist, and conciliatory gaze that often characterizes them.

The title of the exhibition evokes the sensation of sugar in the mouth, emphasizing the embodiment of grand narratives through personal stories. Ranging from the microscopic to the macroscopic – from something as small as sugar dust to something as vast as a galaxy – the works on display subvert expectations about ecological discourse, offering new and urgent forms of storytelling.

Curated by Lucrezia Calabrò Visconti (Head Curator Swiss Institute)