Shaping the System

Working at the intersection of art, ecology and systems, Pietroiusti has developed a distinct practice that resists conventional exhibition formats and challenges institutions to reimagine their internal and external structures. As Head of Ecologies at Serpentine, London, she founded both the General Ecology project and the Ecologies department — initiatives that embed environmental thinking across the organization's programming and operations. 
 
Her curatorial work includes the Golden Lion-winning opera-performance Sun & Sea (Lithuanian Pavilion, Venice Biennale 2019), the long-term project The Shape of a Circle in the Mind of a Fish (with Filipa Ramos), and major ecological and justice-focused collaborations such as Back to Earth and Court for Intergenerational Climate Crimes (with Radha D’Souza and Jonas Staal, forthcoming 2025). 
 
In this evening session, Pietroiusti will reflect on the process of establishing the Ecologies department at Serpentine and the systemic questions it raised. She will also share insights into artistic and organizational practices that challenge legibility, linearity and extractivism — tracing how slow, speculative and relational forms of cultural work can contribute to broader shifts across the arts sector and beyond. 
 
The evening will begin with a 30-minute input by Pietroiusti, followed by a conversation and Q&A with Spore´s Artistic Director Antonia Alampi.