Art, culture and environment meet with Agostino Iacurci’s “Mediterranean Scrub” for Natuzzi at Miami Art Week

At Miami Art Week—encompassing multiple fairs including Art Basel, Design Miami/, and countless installations at galleries, museums, retail spaces, showrooms and pop ups, the boundaries of art and design are continually redefined. For their 2025 installation Natuzzi Italia has partnered with artist Agostino Iacurci on a work of art that is also a powerful cultural and environmental statement.

Thanks to the Natuzzi Open Art initiative—launched in 2007 to democratize art through exhibitions in its stores—in partnership with Regione Puglia, Iacurci presents “Mediterranean Scrub”, an immersive installation that transforms Natuzzi Italia’s Miami store into an homage to Puglia’s natural beauty and cultural essence, connecting the brand’s deep roots in the region to contemporary design narratives. Curated by Cristiano Seganfreddo, the installation invites visitors to explore the Mediterranean landscape through a dynamic interplay of art, memory, and environmental reflection.

The installation begins with a large olive branch motif on the building’s façade, symbolizing both the cultural heritage and environmental challenges of Puglia, region of origin of both Natuzzi and Iacurci. Visitors are then drawn inside, where tall suspended canvases depict silhouettes of native Mediterranean plants like arugula, borage, and poppy. These plants, depicted as black cut-outs, evoke both personal memories of the artist and collective ties to the landscape.

As Iacurci explains, “’Scrub’ also means erosion, understood as the deterioration of the natural landscape caused by Xylella, [a plant pathogen] that is devastating our olive trees. A possible solution is to accompany the diseased olive trees with other plants, creating a new landscape. Thus, in my work, alongside the large olive branch on the façade are borage, strawberry tree, arugula, poppy, dandelion, and laurel, depicted on my flags as simple silhouettes, forming a true vegetal alliance that tells the world about the diversity of our territory.”

This project also takes on a critical ethical dimension by supporting Save the Olives, a Puglia-based nonprofit combating Xylella. Proceeds from the sale of unique prints inspired by Iacurci’s work directly support research and preservation efforts.

“Through Mediterranean Scrub, we not only celebrate Puglia’s beauty but also confront the urgent environmental crisis threatening its identity,” says Pasquale Junior Natuzzi, Chief Creative Officer of Natuzzi Italia. “Each olive tree lost to Xylella erodes a fragment of our shared memory and culture.”

Mediterranean Scrub is open to the public starting 4 December 2024 at the Natuzzi Italia store, 3818 North Miami Ave, Miami, FL 33127.