“The Araucaria Project: my journey to discover the sacred” is a research-based film about the presence of the Chilean native tree “Araucaria araucana” or “Monkey Puzzle tree” in the UK. The video essay blends a documentary and poetic style, to investigate the origin of the name in English and its relationship with its autochthonous name. Hence, it explores the idea of identification through landscape and Botanics. It relies on subjects such as migration, post colonialism, identity, and the sacredness of the tree.

How important is cultural natural heritage for the preservation of endangered species? Is it possible to identify ourselves with nature? In the case of transplanting species, can we talk about decolonization through plants?

To answer these and more questions, the artist interviewed several experts from the UK and Chile to understand the journey of the tree and herself. Some of the collaborators are from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh RBGE; The Royal Horticultural society; UCL; Fundación Mar Adentro (Chile); Universidad de La Frontera (Chile); the Mapuche Community in Curarrehue (Chile), among others. The work was part of the artist’s final project to graduate from the MFA Master in Fine Art Media and was shown in July 2021 at The Slade School of Art, University College of London.

As part of the project, all the research including the transcription of the interviews, links of interests, and the written essay will be hosted online soon. Stay tuned for screening dates and more projects from the artist in her instagram @fiorellalunaangelini or her website www.fiorellaangelini.com

Information about the Film:

“The Araucaria Project: my journey to discover the sacred”
Director, Script, and Editor:
Fiorella Angelini

Camera:
Patricio Alfaro (Chile)
Yuli Serfaty (UK)

Poem narrator:
Izzy Nakhla

Musicalization (and Monkey 1):
Marco Arias

Script consultant:
Gonzalo Maza

Editing consultant:
Patricio Alfaro

Translator:
Andrea Lathrop

Sound post production:
CPM Sound

Dialogue editing:
Joaquín Vallejo

Documentation images:
RHS Lindley Library

Research documentation:
The Royal Horticultural Society RHS
The Anglo Chilean Society

With the support of:
Sarabande Emerging Artist Award (2021) by the Sarabande Foundation (UK)
ANID Becas Chile Magíster en el Extranjero (Chile)
The Slade School of Art, University College of London (UK)