“La vie des plantes” at the Palais de l’Europe in Menton

From October 12 to January 25, 2025, the Palais de l’Europe in Menton will host the exhibition “La vie des plantes,” organized by the Menton Museum Association in collaboration with Cirva (International Center for Research on Glass and Visual Arts).

The exhibition is open from Tuesday to Saturday, from 10:00 to 12:00 and from 14:00 to 18:00, except on public holidays. The curators of the exhibition are Stanislas Colodiet, Director of Cirva, and Guillaume Theulière, Director of the Museums of Menton. The scenography and graphic design are by Ahmad Reshad, in collaboration with the Pavillon Bosio in Monaco.

Menton’s mayor, Yves Juhel, invites the public to discover this new exhibition, which opens the city’s cultural season. Menton, renowned for its gardens and located on the border with Italy, pays tribute to generations of artists and designers who, since the 1980s, have explored flora in both its ornamental and organic dimensions.

The exhibition features eco-responsible scenography, reusing existing modules, and presents works by twelve artists created at Cirva in Marseille. Inspired by Emanuele Coccia’s work “La Vie des plantes,” the museum gallery at the Palais de l’Europe showcases a selection of pieces from the Cirva collection, all inspired by the plant world.

The exhibition highlights how the life and growth processes of plants influence the creative methods of the artists. Glass, naturally similar to a living, vibrant material, is the central element of the artworks: shaped through an alchemical process that blends sand, fire, and water, glass captures the blower’s breath and transforms into a solid, transparent, or colored form.

Like a plant, the creation of glass is born from natural elements—earth, fire, air, and water—and is sublimated by light, embodying “the breath of the world,” a central concept in Emanuele Coccia’s philosophy.

The exhibition journey is punctuated with reflections at the crossroads of biology, design, craftsmanship, and contemporary creation, exploring notions such as breath, seed germination, photosynthesis, grafting, and blooming, offering visitors a unique exploration of the plant world through the artistic lens.