IMMACCHINARIUM launched in Milan for PALIMPSEST

What if a river could heal itself — and art could make the impossible visible?

This is the premise behind the ACQUA LAMBRO project by artist duo gethan&myles, which imagined the Lambro River as both a site of care and an agent of self-restoration. Their work centered on two intertwined ideas: making the river’s water drinkable — an act of radical imagination — and recognising that the river already contains what it needs to regenerate, if supported by mutual care between nature and the city.

Two conceptual artworks emerged from this vision: Una macchina di gioia (A Machine of Joy), a fictional purification machine and Il mondo è un inquinante (The World is a Pollutant), a bottle containing drinkable Lambro water.

From these concepts, a broader collaborative initiative has taken shape: IMMACCHINARIUM — a community-based creative process that builds on the poetic and ecological framework of ACQUA LAMBRO. The name merges the “impossible” and “imagination” with “machine,” pointing to the intersection of vision, art, and practical intervention.

IMMACCHINARIUM will be presented to Milan’s artistic community on June 17, 2025, at the evocative Nosedo wastewater treatment plant, during an event organised by MAF – Museo Acqua Franca, curated by Ornella Piluso and Monica Scardecchia, in collaboration with Ornella Bonomi of the Osservatorio Lambro Lucente.

During the event, PALIMPSEST partners ERSAF Lombardia and Karakorum will introduce the IMMACCHINARIUM project and lead a workshop.

Learn more about the launch here!