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Locus solus

In Wunderkammer of a chimera
Irene Ferrara e Gioia Martinelli/Compagnia Arearea
2024

The Wunderkammer is the chamber that holds eccentric rarities: fantastic natural wonders and exclusive mechanical assemblages. Instruments, cameos, artifacts, ancient objects, shells, globes of imaginary worlds, dragon scales, fairy wings… naturalia, artificialia, and mirabilia.

Behind closed doors and inside glass cases, in the Chambers of Curiosity, lie hidden objects and secrets that unite the marvelous with the thirst for knowledge.

Among these, the figure of the chimera is emblematic: a monster from classical tradition, described as a hybrid of lion, goat, and serpent.
Over time, the chimera no longer frightens and becomes a metaphor for fantasy, wandering thought, illusion, mirage—but also for utopias, dreams, and visions.

…
The reservoir of wonder is full, and Chimera—no longer an elusive, distant image, no longer fearsome—steps out of its case and journeys through its Wunderkammer, carrying with it the pleasure of discovery and the hope of marveling once more.