The idea that Earth was not plain but round meant also that there was part of it unexplored, but also, the world itself had changed;
The world itself was another.
There was no end beyond the horizon, the sea didn’t fall into the nothingness; the creation wasn’t traveling on the shell of a giant turtle. There was something on the other side, something never seen before. And for some, that was a temptation, a desire of exploring and be the first one to experience the unknown. A world that started to be constructed by imagination.
Mirabillia or a Books of Wonders was a compilation or record of travel, what the adventures met during their voyages, to explain what they saw, speculations, others driven just by expectation of seeing the world under their desires of the fantastic. Recalls this idea of the New World, as an idea of a catalog, a catalog-driven by possibility. As fantasy is created from what we know and what we desire and expect. But also leads to fears and nightmares. A tribute to this books of explorations on a revamped format.
The artists invited will comment on the marvels they expect and experience from the world we are currently living that is in constant change, that sometimes is offered as completely explored and known. And that’s the mistake we carry, as we believed the world was flat. Who else than artists would imagine the New World? The New World is always coming.