Media: LUXEAT.com
Title: Vicente Todolí: Art and Citrus – Re-imagining Citrus Growing in Valencia
Author: Phoebe Hunt
Date: 17th June 2021
The Spanish region of Valencia is one of the best known areas for citrus in the entire world. Oranges, lemons, grapefruits and limes are exported by the tonne from this fertile corner of the Mediterranean, bringing a taste of Spanish sunshine to our supermarkets. But this is the exact problem: beyond this handful of intensively farmed monocultures, the land is being drained of life. Many hundreds of rare citrus varieties are at risk of being lost forever, and the focus on mass production is wreaking havoc on the landscape.
This is where Vicente Todolí comes in. After decades working in the arts (the pinnacle of which was seven years as director of Tate Modern. He is currently artistic director at Pirelli Hangar Bicocca in Milan) he had a dramatic shift, and decided to come home to Spain and focus his energies on building a botanical orchard. Todolí Citrus Foundation is a lush citrus paradise in Palmera, Valencia, with more than 400 varieties of citrus trees across some 40,000 square meters. A passion project if ever there was one, Todolí’s decision may not have been as left-field as it seems – the deep connections between art and citrus run back to the Medici family in 16th century Italy, and he sees a lot of similarities between curating a museum and curating his citrus collection.
