Image: Royal Cast Collection ; Cristina Mittermeier
More than 80 photographs by Cristina Mittermeier are on view in ‘Cristina Mittermeier. La Grande Saggezza’, a retrospective at the Grande Miglio in Brescia Castle, Italy. The exhibition opened on 14 July 2026 and runs to 10 January 2027, presenting the work of the Mexican photographer, marine biologist and activist across landscapes, wildlife and communities whose lives remain closely connected to the natural world.
Curated by Lauren Johnston, the exhibition is promoted by the City of Brescia, Fondazione Brescia Musei and Alleanza Cultura. Its exhibition project is by Gallerie d’Italia – Intesa Sanpaolo, in collaboration with the National Geographic Society. The partners also include the Museo di Scienza Naturale di Brescia and the University of Brescia, with Palazzoli S.p.A. listed as sponsor. It forms part of the Brescia Scienza and Orizzonti programmes.
The title refers to a form of knowledge found in ecosystems and in communities that continue to live in close relationship with their environments. The exhibition materials describe this knowledge through ideas of adaptation, cooperation and regeneration, while connecting the photographs to the current instability of environmental systems and the need to preserve limited resources.
The display is organized around three principal subjects: the underwater world, the terrestrial world and tribal peoples. The photographs range across oceans, forests, ice, coasts and inhabited environments, emphasizing the interdependence of human communities, animals and ecosystems. The selection includes images made in Grand Bahama, at Volunteer Point on East Falkland, on the Antarctic Peninsula, in Franz Josef Land, in China’s Yunnan Province, at Monterey Bay in California and in Mo’orea, French Polynesia.
A central concept in the exhibition is ‘enoughness’, a term the museum attributes to Mittermeier’s own thinking about how contemporary societies live and consume. The idea frames the photographs as an invitation to consider what constitutes “enough” and whether more sustainable relationships with the Earth are possible. The exhibition also highlights traditional knowledge passed between generations and the role of the oceans in climate balance, air quality and food security.
‘La Grande Saggezza’ is free to enter, a decision the museum links to the social and moral weight of its subject matter. The Grande Miglio is closed on non-holiday Mondays and open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 7pm on the summer schedule from 1 June to 30 September, with last admission at 6:15pm; on the winter schedule from 1 October to 31 May it is open 10am to 6pm, with last admission at 5:15pm. An audio guide is available.
The programme includes guided visits for individual visitors between 23 July and 3 October 2026, with the next session listed for 27 August, tours for pre-formed groups, a special visit for Abbonamento Musei pass holders on 10 October, and ‘Segni e Mimetismi’, a family workshop for children aged six to eleven running from 27 September 2026 to 3 January 2027. Activities for schools at every level are also offered, and a catalogue accompanies the exhibition.
