The "Terrafilia" exhibition at Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum explores a profound connection to Earth and its inhabitants through art. It guides visitors to imagine transformative ways of addressing global challenges such as climate change. Organized in collaboration with TBA21, this exhibition features around a hundred works from the museum's collections spanning five centuries, inviting a "pluriverse" perspective.
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Terrafilia, a term meaning love and friendship for the Earth, explores a deep connection to the planet and its inhabitants through art. This exhibition uses art to imagine and guide visitors towards transformative ways of being in the world, addressing global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss.
Organized in collaboration with TBA21–Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, 'Terrafilia' features around a hundred works spanning five centuries from the Thyssen-Bornemisza collections. It brings together artists such as Joachim Patinir, Wassily Kandisnky, Natalia Goncharova, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Inês Zenha, Ayrson Heraclito, and Hervé Yamguen. The exhibition delves into artistic and intellectual explorations beyond the human and multi-species imaginaries, inviting visitors to perceive the world as a pluriverse—a world of many worlds. It challenges anthropocentric and Western-centric viewpoints, aligning with emerging philosophical and ethical recognition of non-human life and geological entities. Structured into seven interconnected 'scenarios,' the exhibition examines themes like cosmograms, animated worlds, dream art, objectivity, earth relations, mythic times, and oceanic cosmogonies. These thematic currents guide visitors through diverse relationships with the Earth—via myth, science, dreams, stories, spirituality, and ecology—while critically examining the histories of colonial expansion, resource extraction, and ecological violence that have shaped the current planetary crisis. The exhibition is curated by Daniela Zyman.
Admission details and guided tour bookings are available, with dates for guided visits to the exhibition specified. Visitors can also explore virtual tours and related activities, with options for general public and Friends of the Thyssen membership for certain events.
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