Created by artist Marcantonio and a team of specialists including a set designer, black smith, an electrician and engineer, "Grande Anima" (Great Soul in English) is an imposing twelve metre suspended sculpture. The creature has a core of iron covered in a fibre glass shell and filled with an array of lights from around the world. Weighing in at 710 kilograms, suspending it from the roof was no mean feat.
The piece is said to be inspired by the curious sightings of a lone grey whale in the Mediterranean, thought to have been displaced far from its home and usual migration corridors. Surprised and concerned local onlookers spotted the whale in April 2021 at various locations along the Italian coast and named it “Wally”.
Launched in January 2023, the artwork was described as ‘an invitation to reflect on how nature is in our hands and depends on our care, reminding us how the world's beauty is fragile and closely linked to human behaviour’.
At Fiumicino airport, measures are being put in place to improve care for the environment:
a dual water system has been installed with over 66% of the airport’s water required for heating, toilet drains, firefighting and other systems supplied by purified industrial water. This ensures that drinking quality water is reserved only for essential purposes, resulting in almost 500 Olympic size swimming pools worth of clean drinking water being saved each year;
enhanced security systems installed at the airport will enable passengers to bring their refillable containers through security avoiding bottle waste and liquid disposal at checkpoints; and
single-use plastics will be replaced with compostable options.
The Grande Anima installation served as a powerful reminder to thousands of travellers that passed through the terminal for the need to work together, to use creativity and innovation, so we can make progress towards protecting our planet's precious resources for the health of all the creatures that reside on it.
For inspiring environmental themed art exhibits in Australia visit: WAMA and Remagine.
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