Giù in fondo

Giu in Fondo (2023–2025) is a visual narrative that seeks to reconstruct the traces of a garden destroyed in Arles in 1970, through archival images, drawings and found objects. The Jardin d’Hiver in Arles was a place of refuge from the strong winds, where the city’s inhabitants would seek shelter and gather: it was a communal space. In 1970, the garden was demolished to make way for a car park that now accommodates more than 500 vehicles. Today, alongside the “ghost” of the vanished garden, the remains of an ancient civilisation, perhaps the earliest in Arles, are also preserved. Moving through this layered landscape, I sought to reconstruct its history by exploring the archives of the archaeological excavations at the Jardin d’Hiver, in an attempt to rediscover the traces of a place dear to both me and the people of Arles.