A fossilized trunk and dripping amber transform a deconsecrated Spanish church into a multisensory bridge between earth and sky.
Exhibition Highlights - What you'll see
The late Brazilian artist Tunga (1952–2016) was a master of the alchemical, weaving together materials that seem to hold ancient secrets. In this installation, the raw architecture of the Iglesia de San Miguel meets a delicate landscape of fossilized wood, bronze, and glass. It is a meditation on time—specifically the vast, geological stretches of history that existed before humans, brought into the present through the visceral scent of wood and resin.
You're watching a hollowed tree trunk reaching toward the church's vaulted ceiling as if it were still alive. You sit on a tripod, looking through the wood while the scent of dripping amber fills the air. Bronze fingers and mirrors scatter light across the stone floor, making the heavy materials of the altar feel weightless and the sacred space feel like a living, breathing organism.
Worth the trip
- Multisensory immersion: Beyond the visual, the exhibition uses a bespoke amber fragrance to anchor the viewer in the physical world while the mind wanders through history.
- Sacred dialogue: The juxtaposition of Tunga's organic, surrealist forms against the Romanesque-Mudéjar bones of San Miguel creates a tension that is both haunting and peaceful.
- Rare specimen: Experiencing this specific installation, loaned from the Sarina Tang collection, offers a unique opportunity to see Tunga's complex cosmology in a rural Spanish setting.
How to experience it
Take your time to move around the central trunk, noticing how the mirrors shift your perspective of the church's arches. Use the provided tripods; they are designed to change your physical relationship with the art, moving you from observer to participant. After leaving the cool silence of the church, walk through the medieval streets of Arévalo toward the Plaza de la Villa to ground Tunga's cosmic themes back into the red brick and dust of the Castilian landscape.