EUROFLORA 2021
IN THE PARKS AND MUSEUMS OF NERVI, GENOA, FROM 24 APRIL TO 9 MAY 2021
new project to promote beauty and business through collections, rarities, water games and new trends
ICE trade missions of international buyers to support the industry
Euroflora returns to the Parks and Museums of Nervi, Genoa, from 24 April to 9 May 2021 with the innovative format launched in 2018, combining an extraordinary botanical garden and artistic venue with the quality provided by the best plant and flower growers and the fascinating creativity of gardeners, designers and floral composers. This edition will support the industry more than ever, counting on important partnerships including the Italian Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies, the Italian Association of Nursery Exporters, the ICE Agency, which will finance an incoming cycle of buyers from various markets around the world to Genoa, and Grandi Giardini Italiani, the network that brings together Italy’s most prestigious public and private gardens. As for cultural side events, alongside the permanent collections of Deco and modern art on display at the museums of Nervi, the Carlo Felice Theatre will debut with a series of music events taking place in the Parks during Euroflora, beautifully combining great classical compositions with the floral and plant species on display.
Launched for the first time in 1966 and now in its twelfth edition, the event is organised by Porto Antico di Genova SpA and promoted by the Municipality of Genoa, in collaboration with the Region of Liguria and the Genoa Chamber of Commerce. The event was also strategically supported by trade associations – CIA, Coldiretti and Confagricoltura – and by companies associated with the Municipality, mainly ASTer Genova, involved in the entire planning of the event, along with AMT and AMIU.
Sequences of streams and fountains and large oval spaces will combine with the evocative views of the Parks to offer visitors exciting perspectives with rare plants, unique species, extraordinary collections and excellent productions covering 86 thousand square metres and an expanded route that goes through historic gardens and villas overlooking the sea.
Water and large ovals at the centre of the project
Designed by Studio Lavarello – already in charge of six editions of the event from 1971 to 1996 – the project was approved by the local Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape. It is based on a new geometric concept of space, with large ellipses enhanced by circular shapes designed to create new temporary paths to complement the existing ones, and to outline the structure of the exhibition areas. All this will be enhanced with 17 fountains, using water as visual and noise-control elements. Characterised by specific variations, these geometric shapes are repeated in large landscape sequences within the three large Villas that make up the entire exhibition area of the Nervi Parks. All this gives the project a sense of harmony and unity. The nature of the ellipse goes perfectly with the pre-existing layout, characterised by sinuous paths and patches of vegetation, typical of romantic landscapes, which further enhance the monumental trees and the permanent plants of the Parks.
The two main sequences of ellipses in Parco Gropallo highlight the two small valleys that characterise the area, which become new routes and natural frames for the main spaces of the exhibition, while the large elliptical space created on the grassy meadow in Parco Grimaldi enhances the relationship with the elegant architecture of the villa. To impress and enhance the experience of visitors to Euroflora, these large ovals reveal an element of great symbolic value that is currently not present in the parks: water. Each elliptical space contains a system of circular pools connected by channels; the pools are characterised by water jets, sometimes concentric, sometimes vertical, or a combination of the two. The simple geometric shape of the pools, their integration with the shape of the ellipses and their repetition in the three parks make the water become a new aesthetic symbol marking the entire Euroflora experience, a constant presence throughout the show visually as well as acoustically, with the gurgling sound of the streams.
A larger entrance area
In addition to the temporary and reversible expansion of the area available to visitors, made possible by creating new routes – a total of 6 kilometres, compared to the permanent 5 km route – another important innovation to Euroflora 2021 is that the main entrance to the event will be enlarged – also temporarily and reversibly – with the double purpose of streamlining the flow of incoming visitors and allowing more visitors in. It will be a considerable increase, from two to nine lanes.
The elevated path and the belvedere
It was decided to install a curved, elevated path upstream of Parco Gropallo, in a dominant position with respect to the sequence of fountains below; the path features ramps with a constant slope and gradients to provide access for wheelchair users, reaching a maximum height of 1.5 metres from the ground in the central area.
New spaces for cut flowers and bonsai trees
In addition to using the spaces of the Nervi museums – Frugone Collections, Gallery of Modern Art, Wolfsoniana – new half-covered exhibition spaces have been designed inside small pavilions along the paths of Parco Grimaldi, with the purpose to provide greater opportunities to exhibitors of cut flowers and bonsai trees. Small in size and covered with coloured wooden boards, the semi-circular display modules can be gathered into small groups, alternating with the existing trees and shrubs.
Art and music: land art and the partnership with the Carlo Felice Theatre
In addition to creating a valuable landscape, the Parks of Nervi are surrounded by a major museum complex, consisting of the Gallery of Modern Art, the Frugone Collections and the Wolfsonian museum. To forge an even closer link between flowers, plants and nature, on the one hand, and the world of art on the other, the organisers are thinking about the possibility of combining the presence of floral compositions inside the Museums with land art sculptures to install in some outdoor areas. The Carlo Felice Theatre orchestra and choir have already been hired for “Note sotto le fronde”, a full program of small concerts in the most charming areas of the Parks to create an even more magical atmosphere.
The Green Market
The Green Market, that is the area for booths and stands where visitors can buy plants and flowers, will be located in the upper area of Parco Gropallo, which is close to the main exit. The market area will be “separated” from the exhibition by a divider made up of plant varieties, placed downstream of the same area.
Consistency with the Parks restoration and enhancement project
After the 2016 whirlwind and the reduction of the Parks’ tree heritage, along with the devastating effects of red palm weevils, a restoration project was launched and is now underway.
Designed by the Dodi Moss firm, the project provides for the planting of multiple trees and shrubs, the reintegration of groundcover, turf regeneration and the removal of inappropriate plants according to five functional areas, each corresponding to one year and divided so as not to interfere with the event. Some areas of the park will be restored during the Euroflora period and enhanced as a demonstration of the work in progress.
International competitions and judges
Like every year, during EUROFLORA 2021 there will be competitions for all exhibitors to reward the best Italian and foreign participants. They are divided into honour, design and technical competitions. The former, especially for foreign countries and regions, will reward individual or collective presentations displayed in the various exhibition areas. Design competitions will reward the beauty, originality and artistic presentation of the plants on display, while technical competitions are about the quality, robustness and innovation of blooms, shrubs and trees. There will also be a specific competition to award the displays that are best preserved throughout the event.
Judges are appointed according to a transparent process and selected from professionals with extensive expertise in botanical gardens, agronomy, landscape and composition. A dedicated section of the website will be used to make them known to general visitors as well.
The President of Euroflora International Judging Panel will be Arturo Croci, one of the greatest international experts in flower farming, while the president of the national judging panel will be Ettore Zauli, agronomist, former director of the Gardens service of the Municipality of Genoa, university professor and a leading figure of the event for decades.
A special competition for designers will already be announced in the next few weeks. The purpose will be to design and create a garden within Euroflora, and it will be open to landscape architects and designers, architects, agronomists, engineers, garden designers, gardeners, artists and creatives of any nationality. The theme will be closely linked to the characteristics of the event. Highly qualified judges will select the projects to be created, while a second judging panel will evaluate their implementation.
The greatest flower and plant collections: the partnership with Grandi Giardini Italiani
Thanks to this partnership, Euroflora will present a “gallery” of important and rare plant specimens made available by the most prestigious collectors throughout Italy. Grandi Giardini Italiani will also help Euroflora organisers plan the buyers’ day, involving the purchasing managers for the main Italian gardens and scheduled for the same day as the judges, that is the Friday before the show opens to the public.
Grandi Giardini Italiani is a cultural enterprise founded in 1997 to raise awareness of the immense botanical and artistic heritage of gardens that can be visited in Italy. It includes 140 gardens in 14 regions. After meeting lovers of plants and gardens during four editions of Euroflora, the purpose of the partnership established for 2021 is to represent Italy’s best garden attractions. The Grandi Giardini Italiani network now has more than 8 million visitors every year, proving that plants, gardens and landscape have become a favourite hobby among the Italian people.
Euroflora becomes a business opportunity
To help the industry recover, Euroflora will, for the first time, become a tool to promote trade through its partnership with ICE, with the aforementioned Grandi Giardini Italiani and with AICG – the Italian Association of Gardening Centres – which brings together over 120 Garden Centres nationally.
ICE trade missions
As part of the plan launched by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to promote Italian products, the ICE Agency will organise a presentation of Euroflora in an important European city at the beginning of 2021 and two trade missions with buyers from international markets identified by matching the interests of flower nurseries and the actual opportunities for market penetration. There will be one-to-one meetings and presentations of Italy’s main plant and flower farming districts during the event.
AICG
The co-marketing actions that are being defined with AICG include the presence of associates – in their capacity as buyers – during the event for direct contacts with the exhibiting companies, the organisation of a technical meeting with other industry associations and the promotion of the event in stores across the country.
Flowers and plants: Ligurian excellence
Ligurian nursery gardeners will do the honours of the house as usual. Despite the serious crisis that is affecting the industry due to COVID-19, Ligurian companies are already working to choose the plant species for the large Ligurian area – 3,500 sqm – set up at the entrance to the exhibition: fragrant herbs, flowering plants, succulents and olive trees, the best of Ligurian nursery gardening, known and appreciated worldwide. Also, art will meet flowers again to present Ligurian excellence in the field of cut flowers and foliage: world-renown Italian and international floral designers will compete to create unique compositions inspired by architecture and art inside the special covered spaces dedicated to the host region, including the beautiful chapel next to the Gallery of Modern Art and the Museums. This commitment is now even stronger than in the past; at a time like this, Euroflora encourages Ligurian companies to start again with confidence, knowing that their products are unique and in high demand worldwide.
How to participate
As per international flower show rules and regulations, participation to Euroflora is free. The exhibition spaces will be assigned by the organisers after approving the applicants’ projects, taking into account the specific requirements of each installation and their consistency with the event’s general plan. The scouting work among the main companies in the industry, Regions, Embassies and Consular representatives, industrial districts and trade associations started in 2019 and will end at the end of 2020.
A step forward towards sustainability
Euroflora 2021 is committed to reducing the use of plastic and plastic-derived materials as much as possible in installations and restaurants, as well as to using FCP paper for promotional materials and leveraging digital communication channels. As for mobility to get to the Parks, the organisers confirmed the winning choice made in 2018, using only public transport to reach the vast majority of visitors arriving by train. There will be disabled parking bays near the entrance to the Parks.
Waiting for Euroflora
Coordinated by the departments of commerce, culture, local marketing and tourism and the Chamber of Commerce, the city and the Region are preparing to welcome visitors with exhibitions, events and shows. One of the first signs that the event is approaching is the “Floralies in arte” art and culture channel on Banca Carige’s Instagram profile, highlighting the floral-themed works – paintings and ceramics – that belong to the bank’s vast heritage.
Euroflora 2018 figures
The first in the new era after the Expo Centre, the eleventh edition of Euroflora saw 285,000 attendees in 16 days, with a record number of visitors to the museums – 92,335. The event was sold out for five days. 250 exhibitors including flower farmers, master florists, floral decorators and designers. There were international participants from France, Spain, Taiwan, China and the United States, alongside consular representatives from 55 countries.
Acknowledgements
In 2018 Euroflora had been able to count on the support of Compagnia di San Paolo for the work carried out in the Parks, Iren as an official partner, Basko as an official sponsor, Trenitalia as the official carrier. A significant contribution was also provided by other sponsors including Msc, Gruppo Spinelli, Fincantieri, Novelli Group, Toyota, in addition to “Euroflora friends” Banca Passadore, Clinica Montallegro and Farmacie Genovesi – Zentiva.
Fundamental support was provided by affiliated companies of the Municipality of Genoa, which provided their experience and expertise, by the Marsano Agricultural Institute, for their invaluable cooperation throughout the entire cycle of the event, the EDFA – the Italian Floral Decoration Agency for Amateurs, for their magnificent compositions, students and teachers in work-based learning programmes, the University of Genoa, especially the faculty of Landscape Architecture, the Italian Association of Architects and the Italian Association of Landscape Architects.
Euroflora on-line
The website www.euroflora.genova.it has already been online for a few weeks now. The platform will be used to provide important information, sell tickets, and help exhibitors communicate with the organisers. In addition to the website, the event will be making updates on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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Euroflora 2021 Press Office
Giusi Feleppa 3357157199 – 010.2458675
gfeleppa@portoantico.it
Download the press kit and photos on www.euroflora.genova.it
