The Abominable Mystery

These four ceramic pots are produced
according to an interpretation of a traditional
style of Cypriot pottery. They are displayed
as functional objects (contrary to their
installation in previous cases indoors),
planted with roses and positioned in the
courtyard of the entrance to the Cyprus
Pavilion. Panayiotou has invited Anna
Maria di Sgarabottolo, an ancient rose
collector and researcher based in the greater
Padova area, to select from her collection of
ancient garden roses a specific type for his
pots. It is an aromatic variety of rose from
the Rose Noisettes genus; established via an
exchange of seeds between the Noisette
brothers in Paris and South Carolina during
the early nineteenth century. The Noisette
roses are thus charged with the symbolism
of identity, time, and displacement. The
work’s title, The Abominable Mystery, is
drawn from Charles Darwin’s confusion at
the inexplicable reappearance of flowers,
hundreds of millions of years after the first
plants emerged.