On October 26 at 5:30 pm, the Natural History Museum of the Accademia dei Fisiocritici will host the opening of the exhibition Here I Am, featuring artworks created by students enrolled in the Art & Society in Siena course at the Siena Art Institute. The exhibition offers a dialogue with the present through a plurality of artistic languages and an exploration of different spaces and cultures.
As young researchers, the students had the opportunity to engage with a place that has always been a guardian of knowledge: the Natural History Museum of the Accademia dei Fisiocritici. The Museum preserves historical and natural history collections from all over the world, while retaining its original nineteenth-century exhibition layout. Together with the Library and the Archive, it plays a fundamental role in following the Academy’s mission: promoting scientific knowledge and raising awareness of environmental protection. For these reasons, the Museum offers us and our students an ideal setting in which to bring historical and scientific knowledge into dialogue with contemporary artistic research and practice.
Starting Monday, October 26, this space will host the projects developed by our semester students (Helen Grace Bonnevie-Rothrock, Taylor Ann Mastrogiovanni, Grady Brown, and Natalie Zoltners) during the first part of the course, under the guidance of instructors Bernardo Giorgi, Irene Lupi, and Lisa Nonken.
The project has the same vision that underpins the Art & Society in Siena course: exploring the city and its surroundings, drawing inspiration from them, and examining how intercultural dynamics can shape contemporary artistic practices. The aim is to move beyond stereotypical representations of Tuscany and develop a deeper understanding of the region and its cultural dynamics. Another key aspect of the course is the active involvement of students in projects that allow them to engage directly with the local community and its organisations.
During this first academic period, students had the opportunity to explore and discover Siena from a variety of perspectives. They met a historic Sienese family, gaining insight into the more authentic aspects of everyday life in the city; explored the Palio and the division of the city into its contrade from a more scientific perspective; and, finally, investigated the local territory through an even more unusual lens, thanks to a meeting with Professor Marco Giamello at the Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences.
It is from this diversity of experiences that the exhibition Here I Am takes shape. Drawing on their individual sensibilities and the knowledge they have acquired, the students have created a dialogue with the present through a variety of artistic languages, bringing their work into the museum spaces through installations, photography and sound.
Our student Rowan Thomas Francis O'Connor, enrolled in the Museum Studies course, had the opportunity to curate the exhibition and write the accompanying curatorial texts, putting into practice the knowledge and skills acquired during his academic term at the Siena Art Institute.
The exhibition will also be open to the public on Tuesday, October 27, and Wednesday, October 28, 2026, during the Museum’s regular opening hours.
