THE CURATORS’ QUADERNO - Issue 9

Book Art and Other Gardens: A Tribute to Elena Salvini Pierallini

Italian book artist and photographer Elena Salvini Pierallini captures glimpses of human nature and the natural world.

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“Elena Salvini Pierallini began with embroidery, plunging her needle into organza like a sword in stone – a delicate, transparent stone, cloaked in the aura of the Middle Ages, as studied in books, or seen in frescoes, Romanesque capitals, and Books of Hours, art historian and museum director Marilena Mosco wrote, “ESP’s embroidery addressed themes centred on humanity and its archetypal activities linked to the rhythm of time and the seasons, focusing on the profound connection between humanity and nature. Yet, her photography, pursued from the 1990s onwards, focused on nature itself. Through her favourite lens, she used the camera’s eye as an expressive medium, in sync with the passage of time and the broadening of artistic horizons.”

According to curator Giovanna Giusti, “Elena Salvini Pierallini’s three-dimensional ‘standing books,’ are to be walked around, like sculptures, as air circulates around them, a compendium of threads, notes, clippings, choices, colour and emotion. Hers is a journey undertaken with seriousness, and the passion of playfulness.”

This edition is published in conjunction with the exhibition 'Elena Salvini Pierallini: Book Art and Other Gardens' at Il Palmerino Cultural Association in Florence (12 June to 21 September 2026). The Curators’ Quaderno is a collection of notebook-style publications, conceived by Calliope Arts, in collaboration with The Florentine and Restoration Conversations, to raise awareness of women’s contributions to the fields of art, science and culture.