The chinampas are an ancestral agricultural system from Mesoamerica with more than four thousand years of history. They are located in shallow lakes and are built in rectangular blocks formed by layers of sediment, mud, and vegetation. Flowers, vegetables, and other foods are grown there. Their beautiful geometric arrangements, in addition to forming channels, multiply the shores of the lake, creating ecological niches for the feeding, reproduction, and shelter of various species, thus detonating an explosion of biodiversity. This system captures carbon, purifies water, and produces food and oxygen. Each element is equally important and generates symbiotic relationships that promote life. In a world vulnerable to climate change and on the brink of ecological collapse, the chinampas show us a path to the future. Chinampa Veneta emerges here, composed of a series of enactments that will undergo constant transformation and growth during the six months of La Biennale.

One of these enactments is exhibited in this space: a system of chinampas that represents different moments in their life process. The performance begins with the regeneration of a chinampa from the chapin, a small cube of nutrient-rich mud that holds a seed inside. The other chinampas are arranged in parallel, evoking the banks of the Xochimilco canals and allowing the audience to flow through the space, like water between the canals. At the center stands the protagonist: a living chinampa, that differs form its predecessors in Mexico, because the milpa—an ancestral traditional system of intercropping— coexists with the vite maritata—an ancient agroforestry system practiced in Veneto and other regions of Italy, in which the vine grows intertwined with trees.

Another enactment floats symbolically in the Venetian Lagoon as an analogy to the Teatro del Mondo by Aldo Rossi, who conceived of theatre as a fulcrum between architecture and the imaginary, capable of building bridges between worlds. On this occasion, that theater is transformed into the Chinampa del Mondo, which presents itself proudly ancestral, natural, and organic in front of the built environment of Venice.

Together, these enactments seek to build bridges between cultures and times, between Xochimilco and Venice, opening a dialogue among the last harvest trenches, their shared histories, and their fragilities.

This project has been developed by a collective of designers, architects, landscape architects, farmers, film directors, scriptwriters, and animators, with the support of an even wider universe of academics, chinamperos, chefs, and many other voices who, through their texts and conversations, have guided us along this journey. We deeply thank them all for sharing their time and knowledge, from Xochimilco to Venice.