Exhibitions / Art – Family
14.03.2026 – 12.02.2027
FUNGA – A Hidden World
Neither plants nor animals – they can communicate and play a fundamental role in nature. But what exactly are fungi, what are they capable of, and why would life without them be almost unimaginable? These questions are explored in the exhibition “Funga – A Hidden World”, which opened yesterday at the Natural History Museum.
Fungi are among the oldest yet most invisible protagonists of life on Earth. The temporary exhibition invites visitors to discover this independent kingdom and to look beyond the fruiting body – beyond the idea of fungi as merely food.
Fungi mostly operate out of sight: what is commonly called a “mushroom” is only the fruiting body (comparable to the apple of a tree). The actual organism consists of a branching network of fine cellular threads called hyphae, which together form the mycelium. This network grows hidden in the soil, in wood or in other substrates, transporting water and nutrients and stabilizing the soil by connecting organic material and rock.
Fungi are neither plants nor animals. Like plants (with which they were long associated), they are fixed in one place, but they cannot perform photosynthesis. Therefore, like animals, they must obtain nutrients by absorbing organic substances from their environment, though they take them up in dissolved form. According to current scientific knowledge, fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants.
Fungi play a central role in symbiosis: more than 90% of all land plants live in symbiosis with them. Fungal hyphae extend the root systems of plants and improve the absorption of water and nutrients, while the plants supply sugars to the fungi. Without these relationships, the colonization of land would have been nearly impossible.
The exhibition also explains that fungi communicate not only chemically but possibly electrically as well: many species transmit electrical impulses through their mycelium. Researchers suspect that these signals serve for information processing and that their patterns may resemble a kind of “language”, a field that is still largely unexplored.
“Funga” tells the story of the ancient origins of fungi, their key role in nature and evolution, and their close relationship with humans, for example in the skin and gut microbiome. The scientific perspective is complemented by cultural viewpoints: fungi as medicine, as elements of rituals and myths, and as characteristic motifs in art and pop culture. Current approaches to sustainable materials and biotechnological applications also offer a glimpse into the future.
The exhibition was opened on 9 February 2026 by museum director David Gruber together with curators Petra Mair (curator of the bryology section) and Margit Schweigkofler (museum educator). It can be visited until February 2027 on the ground floor of the South Tyrol Museum of Nature.
Parking in My Mondschein Parking
Safe & central
My Mondschein Parking is located in the old town of Bolzano and is therefore one of the most centrally located car parks in the city centre. Ideal to start shopping tours or to experience the active nightlife of Bolzano. My Mondschein guarantees 24 hours of security of locked rooms, lighting systems, surveillance systems, and a garage watchman. My Mondschein Parking is clean and well maintained.
Article & Photo: ©Verkehrsamt der Stadt Bozen – www.bolzano-bozen.it