The neologism solastalgia, coined in 2003 by the Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht, is frequently used in medical terminology referring to the physical and psychological unease caused by environmental change.
While nostalgia arises when individuals are separated from their own environment and loved ones, solastalgia appears when people become helpless witnesses of a drastic and detrimental alteration of their own habitat. It is a feeling of alienation and melancholy, triggered when the need to feel in the right place, at home, is violated: basically, when the environment one lives in becomes hostile or alien.
In the current Anthropocene, in which the impact of human activities has been causing deep modifications to territories, climate and forms of social organization, we can realistically assume an ever-increasing incidence of solastalgia. At the same time, the awareness of climatic, economic and urban changes, together with their impact on habitats, communities and individuals, is eliciting a growing desire for change that sees new models of behavior – based on environmental and social sustainability – as a valid alternative.
Solastalgia is an exhibition and an informative event at the same time. It will consist of:
a contemporary art exhibition of works by Italian and international artists, who will explore the distress caused by unsustainable social and environmental practices. Artists like Andrea Abati, Michele Amoruso, Mario Cruz, Paolo Della Corte, David Ellingsen, Isabelle Hayeur, Claudia Pajewski, Laura Pugno and Alessandro Toscano will give visual form to solastalgia;
contributions of academics (environmental psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, architects) on the current relationship between human beings and the environment, as well as representatives from the cultural and museum world, who will discuss the identification and practices of alternative models of development in the field of cultural heritage.