Refugees have been uprooted, had their existences ripped away, turned upside down, and brutally transplanted to another soil, a different environment, a different climate, ecosystem…Putting down roots can be about the condition of the refugee, but - in the end - about the universal condition of all those who find themselves experiencing the drama of uprooting and must attempt, in some way, to start again. A painful, exhausting process, but one that leaves open a glimpse of hope. (Martina Bastianello)

THURSDAY 1 MAY – SUNDAY 3 AUGUST 2025
Exhibition
in collaboration with Amnesty International Italia
Included in the admission ticket

Sixty views. Sixty stories. Sixty refugee people who, together with the architect and illustrator Matteo Pericoli, have transformed a window into a visual and personal storytelling. Windows on Elsewhere is a project conceived by Bill Shipsey, founder of Art for Human Rights, and Matteo Pericoli, created between 2018 and 2021 in support of Amnesty International.

The exhibition brings together sixty original drawings made by Pericoli, each accompanied by the intimate story of someone who faced uprooting, loss, but also with rebirth in a new land. The idea of bringing this experience to the Botanical Garden of Padua was the brainchild of Martina Bastianello, who caught a profound dialogue between the project and the Botanical Garden’s plant heritage. Just like the trees evoked with poignant affection in the refugees’ stories, the windows of the exhibition overlook memories, identities and hopes. Many write about the trees of their childhood and the new trees they observe today – a green, living thread connecting past and present.

Linneo’s inverted linden tree – capable of turning branches into roots – becomes symbolic of refugee conditions: upside-down lives trying to put down new roots in other soil. It’s a powerful metaphor that also speaks to anyone experiencing profound change, relocation, and reconstruction.

As Gianni Rufini – former director of Amnesty International Italia – wrote:
“Not only that eyes see, but that they see through other eyes: eyes that are neither ‘ours’ nor ‘theirs’, but common eyes, shared glances…”. Windows on Elsewhere invites exactly this: to look at the world through different eyes, allowing ourselves to be touched by stories that affect us all.

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an independent global movement of more than 10 million people committed to defending human rights. It exposes violations, pressures governments and companies to comply with international law, and mobilizes activists around the world to promote justice, freedom and dignity. Through campaigns, concrete actions and human rights education, it has been working for a more equitable world for more than 50 years, fighting discriminations, torture, repression of dissent and defending the rights of refugees and migrants.

Matteo Pericoli

Matteo Pericoli is an architect, author, illustrator and teacher. His work has been published in numerous national and international newspapers and magazines. In 2007 he completed Skyline of the World, a 120-meter mural for the American Airlines terminal at JFK International Airport. His books have been published in Italy, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan, and China. The latest is Il grande museo vivente dell’immaginazione. Guida all’esplorazione dell’architettura letteraria (The Great Living Museum of Imagination. A Guide to Exploring Literary Architecture) (Il Saggiatore). In Turin in 2010 he founded the Laboratorio di architettura letteraria (Literary Architecture Lab).

Art for Human Rights

Art for Human Rights brings together artists from all disciplines to raise awareness of human rights violations. We use art to inspire action so that freedom, equality and dignity become a reality for all.

Windows on Elsewhere.
60 views for 60 refugees