When it is not the masterpieces of art that go on display, but the “rubbish” that becomes art itself, waste material to be felt, touched and from which to be reborn. Also because “If you don’t give a damn, you’re screwed”! It was inaugurated yesterday in Rome, in the suggestive location from the Coffee House Of Colonna Palace, Materia Viva Experience, the first immersive exhibition dedicated to electronic waste, the environment and the circular economy. A unique journey that accompanies visitors on an experience that manages to blend art, education and sustainability to highlight a world that we are part of every day, but that we rarely really see.
Every object on display – from phones to laptops, from washing machines to neon lights – tells a story of use, wear and tear and abandonment. These objects that we use, repair and throw away are the protagonists of a little-known cycle: that of WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world.
The immersive experience was born as spin-off of the documentary film Living Matter, created to shine a light on an issue that has crucial environmental and economic consequences. The exhibition invites us to reflect on the need to correctly recycle electronic devices, reducing the use of raw materials extracted in often inhumane conditions and limiting the danger of environmental contamination by heavy metals.
And if the key message is “If you don’t give a fuck, you’re fucked”, the route, enriched by interactive installations and a play of lights that illuminates in the dark, aims to shake up the younger ones in particular, raising their awareness with a frank and provocative language. As underlined by Giorgio Arienti, General Director of Erion WEEE which inaugurated the exhibition on International E-waste Day,
each of our choices has an impact; culture can transform reality, and we hope that this exhibition will be a tool to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy.
An invitation to change perspective
The entire exhibition itinerary is a combination of lights, sounds and interactions that invite us to rethink our relationship with electronic waste and resource management. It is not just an exhibition but an “immersive awareness raising”, as Giorgio Zampetti, General Director of Legambiente, defines it, who underlined the importance of raising awareness especially among younger citizens, so that they become aware and protagonists of responsible choices:
Correct recycling of WEEE is not just a good practice, it is a necessary step to recover valuable materials, helping to reduce our dependence on critical raw materials abroad
When images become consciousness
The installations invite the visitor to explore an often forgotten reality, reminding us that the circular path of waste begins from our homes. Every time an electronic device is discarded, it can become a precious resource or a pollution problem: it depends on our awareness. Marco Cattaneo, director of National Geographic Italyunderlined that
participating in this initiative means confirming our commitment to informing on environmental risks; every device we throw away without thinking is a piece of our future that is lost.
Information and access
Within the week of exposure, an event has been scheduled for today Meet and Greet with CiccioGamer89a well-known YouTuber loved by young people. The event on 15 October will bring even the youngest audience closer to the complex issues of sustainability, through the familiar face of an influencer who has a strong impact on Gen Z. The presence of CiccioGamer89 is not accidental: it wants to demonstrate that the theme of Electronic recycling is not distant from the daily lives of young people, but on the contrary it affects the devices they use every day. From tomorrow, however, until October 20th the exhibition will be open to the public with free and open entryto offer an opportunity for learning and awareness to everyone, from schools to citizens. For school visits, booking is required via the AMA Roma website. “Materia Viva Experience” is therefore an invitation to reflect, but above all to transform words into actions, leaving us with a simple truth: the future of the planet depends on our choices today, and ignoring the problem only makes our tomorrow worse .
Beyond Rome: a project in motion
After Rome, Materia Viva Experience aims to reach other Italian cities, bringing this message of responsibility and hope across the territory. The aim is to raise awareness among an ever-increasing number of people, from young people to adults, and to encourage active participation in reducing the environmental burden of WEEE. As Erion WEEE reiterated, only by joining forces and making access to collection and recycling easier can we really make a difference.
The exhibition and the documentary film therefore open the doors to an important and urgent dialogue on how WEEE recycling can be transformed into an opportunity, not only for the environment, but for sustainable economic growth. From this perspective, Materia Viva Experience leaves us with a clear message: bring visitors inside the material, inside the waste to raise awareness of the disaster we are creating. Starting from the drawers of our homes, still too full of old electronic devices that we will never use again, but which we persist in keeping in there instead of allowing them to become new raw material and trigger that virtuous circle that can really change the fate of Planet.
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