Humus sapiens
A few questions for Vera Bonaventura, aka Ida Harm
Let’s start from the roots, how did your story begin?
There have always been new beginnings, each of which has added a piece to my identity.
Who are the people who have inspired you the most artistically and professionally?
Seeds, wool, reflections, waves, wind, roots, leaves, algae, sand, rocks, veins, spider webs, footprints, sounds, streams, rain, soil, humus, insects, bark, sawdust, ash, hair, scratches, surfaces, fragments, rice, wax, milk… All the artists who love to engage with this kind of material.
How does nature inspire your projects and lifestyle?
Western civilization, from Aristotle onwards, has relegated the natural world to the status of “object” because it lacks logos/word. Thus, it has denied it all rights, plundering it, using it, exploiting it for every need. But how would human thought have evolved if it included the non-human as having “subjectivity,” thus rights and legal status, and if this were written down in a “Natural Contract” (M. Serre): a pact of symbiosis with forests, rivers, seas, mountains, having the right to exist, to regenerate themselves, and to maintain their life cycles, structures, functions, and evolutionary processes.
The trip you most want to take.
Far East.
If you could make a tribute to the earth (soil), what would it be?
I would eradicate cement, graft roots, scatter seeds, and make it rain.
If your project were music, what track would it be?
4’33” by Jhon Cage.
Which artwork would you place at the center of an exhibition?
A work by Giuseppe Penone.
What does Avant gardening mean to you?
The work I present at Orticolario, “Humus Sapiens,” relativizes what we consider “evolved” (i.e., the Homo genus) to restore to its rightful place what has truly evolved over 4.5 billion years (Humus). Our “wisdom” will manifest only when we’ll be able to give value (not price) to things, starting with those on which we depend. “5cm” of humus could be a good start.
Five words for you closely related to the concept of earth (soil).
One for all: *méh₂tēr (Indo-European root of “mother”).
Bio
Ida Harm (alias Vera Bonaventura, born in Venice in 1977), holds a degree in Pedagogy (UniPD) and has studied Anthropology (USA-Fulbright) and at Ca’ Foscari (UniVE). Her travels and interest in art have led her to a career as a visual artist with a focus on trees and nature. She has held solo and group exhibitions in Museums/Public Spaces across Europe: ArteSella, Kunst Haus Merano, Botanical Gardens, Trauttmansdorff Gardens (Grandi Giardini Italiani), Rimoldi Museum Cortina, Villa Vescovi FAI, Arborealists UK…
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