EMoT is the first widespread museum dedicated to Trees. It is conceived as an open space for dialogue among elements of nature, art, and science. Designed and curated by the nonprofit organization Blue Cheese Project APS, which has been active for over 20 years in the production of public and participatory art projects, it is developed thanks to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU – PNRR Digital Transition Cultural and Creative Organizations – with the patronage of the City of Rome – Department of Agriculture, Environment, and Waste Cycle. The EMoT, European Museum of Trees, was created with the ambition of a project that starts in Rome and aims to become transnational. Free and accessible, through technology, EMoT sprouts into stories of the city oriented from a tree perspective. Through the contributions of Botanists, Art Historians, Astrophysicists, Artists, Journalists, Philosophers, Anthropologists, and communities, we are enriched with an idea of a sustainable future.

On one hand, through its itineraries, EMoT offers everyone the opportunity to discover in a new way, have shared and exciting experiences, and understand how the presence of tree species in the urban context is central to the well-being of individuals and territories. On the other hand, it aims to be a source of inspiration for all those projects that, going beyond taxonomies, will want to overlap and experiment with what does not yet exist.

“But does it make sense to talk about a museum in reference to Trees? This question is often raised,” explain the Museum’s creators and curators, Lara De Angelis and Pierpaolo Fabrizio. “Our answer is that it is not about ‘musealizing’ trees but ‘tree-ifying’ the museum; by this, we mean the process of creating a place that is open, inclusive, connected, branched, sustainable, mutable, and that allows practices of crossing. Thus, the Museum of Trees opens its imaginary doors, tracing a path that is structured but free, where one can unexpectedly find oneself in front of the Avocado tree in Piazza Sant’Egidio, admiring its ability to invent solutions for existence that we cannot decipher, solutions that amaze us for their connection to something we lack. These Trees are the new obelisks that guide us in the city, custodians of stories to tell and others to write.”