Sacro Bosco by Flora Yin Wong

Commissioned for an artist residency at the Mahler & LeWitt Studios in Spoleto, Italy in partnership with Shedhalle Zurich, the Sacro Bosco tape explores various themes from the region’s holy mountain of Monteluco (Latin: lucus - a wood sacred to Jupiter), and its myths of saintly protection.

Taking form as an installation in Piazza della Genga during a full moon, over 50 hand-drawn talismans invoking the spirits of the surrounding forest and beyond were nailed to the walls to create a 'universal sacred space'.

Whilst the use of protective paper talismans (ofuda/fulu) is typical to Daoist practice, Sacro Bosco attempts to observe and unify the local collective religious beliefs of Catholicism and the Pagan god Jupiter. Inspired by a tale about the patron saint of Spoleto, Pontianius, and how in 1703, on his feast day, earthquakes affected the entire region of Italy, save Spoleto.

The final part of the project will release the sound pieces on two sides of a limited run of 50 cassette tapes - each wrapped in one of the original talismans - inked in black and cinnabar (as historically vermilion was regarded as the colour of blood, thus the colour of life), depicting the emblems and living spirits of wild boars, snakes, and trees in the surrounding forest.

Modern Love / PAN