A missing artwork became an unexpected reminder of the fragility of the natural world at the opening of Flora & Fauna, Matti Sirvio Art Gallery’s Autumn Salon in Muscat.
The group exhibition opened on October 3 at ABCN Business Centre, DoubleTree by Hilton, and runs until December 30. Organised under an open call, the Autumn Salon brings together a selection of artists. MSAG holds three such exhibitions each year: the Autumn Salon, Spring Salon and Silent Night, its Christmas and New Year exhibition.
Alongside Omani artists, this year’s participants come from 16 countries, including eight European countries. Their works take flora and fauna as a starting point, with subjects interpreted through a range of visual approaches.The missing poster work added an unforeseen layer to the exhibition’s central concern. Its brief disappearance turned an idea about loss into a real event, while its recovery offered a small measure of relief. Together, the works and the story behind the poster ask viewers to consider what is at stake when the living world is reduced to an image or memory.
In his welcome speech, curator Matti Sirvio spoke about humanity’s damaging relationship with nature. People, he said, had been entrusted with the stewardship of creation but had not fulfilled that responsibility well.
The thought took on particular force when Sirvio described the artwork chosen for the exhibition poster. Created by French artist Sylvie Mirouh, it had gone missing while being transported from France to Oman. On opening night, visitors saw a photograph of the original in its place.
Sirvio used the incident as a warning. As biodiversity declines, he suggested, there is a risk that people may one day be left with only pictures of the natural things they once encountered freely. Several days after the opening, the artwork was found. The original is expected to take its place in the exhibition.
Across the salon, some works approach their subjects decoratively, while others invite reflection. The curator had asked artists to bring an abstract twist to the theme, leaving room for viewers to imagine their own connections with the plant and animal worlds.
That openness gives the exhibition its variety. Rather than offering a single interpretation of nature, the works encourage visitors to look closely and form their own responses. A familiar shape or pattern can become something less certain, prompting the imagination to move between what is recognisable and what is suggested.
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