Maldivian Coconut (Capriccio)

Wooloo
 has 
moved 
a 
crop 
of
 fresh
 Maldivian 
coconuts 
from
 a 
local 
palm 
tree 
to 
the 
canals 
of 
Venice.
 Each
 of
 the
 palm’s
 twelve
 coconuts
 will
 be
 placed
 in
 a
 distinct
 site
 determined
 by
 twelve
 classical
 “Vedutismo”
 paintings
 of
 the
 Venetian
 cityscape.
 During
 the
 biennial,
 the
 coconuts
 will
 spread
 throughout
 the
 city
 on
 the
 currents
 of
 the
 water,
 noticed
 only
 by
 passers by
 who
 stumble
 across
 them.
 A
 small, 
out‐of‐place 
element 
inserted 
into 
one 
sinking 
civilization 
from
 another, 
the 
coconuts
 serve
 as
 a
 reminder
 of
 both
 the
 resilience
 and
 fragility
 of
 nature.


Featured
 on
 the
 nation’s
 official
 Emblem,
 as
 well
 as
 on
 countless
 guidebook
 covers,
 hotel
 brochures,
 and
 tourist
 photographs,
 the
 coconut
 palm
 is
 not
 only
 the
 National
 Tree
 of
 the
 Maldives,
 but
 a
 major
 element
 of
 the
 island
 nation’s
 visual
 culture.
 The
 coconut
 and
 Maldivian
 life
 is
 essentially
 inseparable.
 Yet
 the
 image
 of
 coconuts 
in 
the 
water 
is
also 
an 
image 
of 
destruction: 
following 
the 
last 
tsunami
 to 
hit 
the 
Maldives,
 the
 vast
 number
 of
 coconuts
 floating
 in
 the
 water
 was
 a
 major
 sign
 of
 ruin.


When
 rising
 seas
 eventually
 submerge
 the
 Maldives,
 its
 coconuts
 will
 bear
 witness
 to
 its
 last
 days.
 Floating
 away
 like
 pieces
 of 
memory, 
the 
DNA
 of
 an
 extinct 
time.