In our collective imagination, Arcadia represents that idyllic region located in Greece, described, among others, by Virgil in his Bucolics in 40 B.C. as a place of tranquility, devoted to the pleasures of nature and song. The mountains, the flourishing nature, the microclimate, and the sweetness of life have transformed the place into a synonym for an ideal life, where the splendour and harmony of abundant nature open the intimacy and poetry of the garden to the entire landscape.
The “Arcadia” exhibition takes as its starting point the shaping of the territory of the SwissItalian region of Ticino over the past century, exploring different axes aiming at an ideal of happiness that embraces and develops the relationship with nature.
With the democratization of the automobile in the 1930s, Ticino is finally connected more directly and quickly to German-speaking Switzerland by the Gotthard Road, thereby acquiring the nickname “Sonnenstube” the sunspot. This sunny and welcoming region became attractive to artists and celebrities at a time when exotic gardens are becoming fashionable. From Morcote to Montagnola via Lugano, from the park of Villa Heleneum to those of writers like Hermann Hesse or great art collectors like Hermann Arthur Sherrer or even Peter Smithers, former MI6 secret agent, pleasure gardens are transformed into exotic oases, combining memories of travel and romanticism.

Artists: Yto Barrada, Vanessa Beecroft, Amélie Bertrand, Julius von Bismarck, Zuzanna Czebatul, Raphaël Emine, Hermann Hesse, Ittah Yoda, Mehdi-Georges Lahlou, Lisa Lurati, Marta Margnetti, Lou Masduraud, Adrien Missika, Gabriel Moraes Aquino, Amy O’Neill, Maxime Rossi, Mario Schifano, Julia Steiner, Batia Suter.