FLOWERSTAN: ELHAM AGHILI’S PROJECT ROOM AT CASERMARCHEOLOGICA

It is on view until April 30, 2025, at CASERMARCHEOLOGICA, FLOWERSTAN, a project room by Elham M. Aghili curated by Barbara Pavan, in the spaces of Palazzo Muglioni (Via Niccolò Aggiunti 55) in Sansepolcro, AR.

FLOWERSTAN is a neologism derived from the hybridization of the English term Flowerland and its Persian synonym Golestan. It captures the latest evolution of Elham M. Aghili’s artistic practice, which she has been pursuing for years and which culminates in this project room. The installation intertwines multiple aspects of her personal and professional research, synthesizing the complex layers of her work while planting the seeds for new perspectives and opening up fresh horizons of reflection.

Elham M. Aghili, an Italian-Iranian artist active both nationally and internationally, combines intellectual exploration with a distinctive expressive style. Her work is defined by masterful technique and a keen focus on contemporary sustainability issues. Her poetic vision evokes an imaginative parallel nature, where threads – specifically production scraps from VIMAR1991 – create landscapes that oscillate between reality and illusion, the natural and artificial, being and appearing. Using a visual language rich with symbolic and cultural references, Aghili reinterprets the relationship between humans and the environment, transforming threads into visible metaphors of the invisible connections binding human thought to the natural world.

In today’s world, Aghili’s “inverted garden,” conceived for this occasion, becomes an eloquent metaphor for a planet shaken by climate crises, wars, and global pandemics. Her work evokes a nature teetering on the edge, suspended between survival and annihilation, desperately clinging to any glimmer of hope to assert its existence. Through her skilled use of production scraps and reclaimed materials, Aghili crafts an upside-down universe, destabilizing conventional perceptions and compelling viewers to confront a new perceptual order.

Her work transcends mere aesthetics to serve as an allegory of the relentless struggle for life. The inversion of gravity and perception invites critical reflection, transforming her creation into a narrative vehicle that delves deeper into the layered complexities of our time. Aghili leads viewers beyond the visible, unveiling the wonders of a nature that, though hidden from inattentive eyes, remains the primary matrix of life.

FLOWERSTAN acts as both a critical and poetic gesture—a warning about the paradoxes of our era and a denunciation of modernity’s exploitative relationship with the natural world, even in its subterranean roots and vital transformations. It suggests new possibilities for regeneration and coexistence.

The project room is an immersive and transformative experience, a perceptual inversion that elevates nature from passive object to active subject, from decorative frame to protagonist of a universal narrative. Aghili’s work compels us to look beyond the surface, explore hidden vitality, and reconsider anthropocentric certainties.

Through her refined mastery, Aghili creates a philosophical and aesthetic space where the boundaries between visible and invisible, natural and artificial, human and non-human dissolve. It becomes both a critique and a message of hope—an invitation to rethink our role within an interconnected living system. She offers us the possibility to imagine a future in which humanity reconciles with the Earth, not as a dominator but as part of a magnificent ecosystem defined by fragile and sublime balance.

Artist Biography

Elham M. Aghili, an Italian artist of Persian origin born in Sassuolo in 1989, grew up immersed in the world of Persian carpets, which deeply influenced her artistic research. After an initial academic focus on science, she earned a master’s degree in Visual Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna.

Her works have been selected for numerous prestigious events, including the XV National Art Prize at the Mas-Edu Museum in Sassari, the International Biennale Contexile in Guimarães (Portugal), the Valcellina Awards in Maniago IT, and Tramanda in Chieri IT. In 2021, her work Hybrids won the Avant Young #Safety Award, promoted by Volvo Car Italia in Milan.

Aghili’s creations are part of prestigious private and institutional collections, including Hub 19M in Paris F, the Colibri Consortium in Bologna IT, Fatti ad Arte in Biella, Trame d’Autore in Chieri, and Romagna Fiere’s collection. Notable recent solo exhibitions include The New Bloom at Chanel’s offices in Milan, Fioritura in corso at Villa Bellombra in Bologna, and The Garden of the Soul at Palazzo Ferrero in Biella. She has also participated in Pitti Immagine Filati for three consecutive years (2022–2024) at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence.

Collective exhibitions are also a significant aspect of her career, featuring in the II International Biennale of Contemporary Fiber Art at MuRTAC (Valtopina) IT, Threads of Our Time at the Chelsea Market Gallery in New York, USA, De Rerum Natura during the 59th Venice Biennale, and The Soft Revolution at the Textile Museum of Busto Arsizio, among others.

Aghili’s artistic exploration has expanded into fashion and design, demonstrated by her collaboration with London-based brand Samanta Virginio, for which she designed and created the sculpture-dress A New Bloom.

CasermArcheologica

Palazzo Muglioni, built in 1536 on medieval structures, served various roles over the centuries—from noble residence to school—before being abandoned for decades. Since 2013, it has been transformed into CasermArcheologica, a cultural and artistic center that bridges historical memory, social innovation, and creativity. It is now a cornerstone of contemporary art, education, and community dialogue, promoting inclusivity and sustainability. As a hub of cultural regeneration, it stands as a symbol of cultural rebirth, connecting past, present, and future in Sansepolcro.

For more information: www.casermarcheologica.it