Los Angeles Exhibition Explores What Ancient Places Can Teach Us About Being Human Through U.S.–Italy Cultural Exchange
Elizabeth Yochim inside Nuraghe Piscu, a Bronze Age stone monument in Sardinia, where "Between Earth and Sky" explores archaeology as a living encounter through photography, performance, and embodied experience. Photo credit Domenico Cortese.
The exhibition launches an international initiative connecting contemporary art, archaeology, and embodied cultural heritage research.
We often encounter archaeology as something to observe. The future of cultural heritage is participation, that is experiencing ancient places as living landscapes that continue to shape who we are.”
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, August 3, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- As technology increasingly mediates our relationship to one another and the world around us, "Between Earth and Sky: Nuraghe Piscu, Sardinia" asks a timely question: What can ancient places teach us about being human today?— Elizabeth Yochim, Founder, YA!
Opening August 15–September 6, 2026, at YA!, an independent interdisciplinary arts space in Los Angeles, the exhibition is the centerpiece of a growing U.S.–Italy cultural exchange connecting contemporary art, archaeology, and embodied approaches to cultural heritage.
Created by Los Angeles interdisciplinary artist Elizabeth Yochim in collaboration with Italian photographer Domenico Cortese, "Between Earth and Sky explores Nuraghe Piscu", one of Sardinia's Bronze Age stone monuments, through photography, live performance, projected imagery, sound, and storytelling. Rather than presenting archaeology as something confined to the past, the exhibition invites audiences to experience the archaeological landscape as a living presence where memory, landscape, and human experience converge.
Reflecting on the collaboration, Cortese explains:
“This body of photographs emerged from the encounter between the Sardinian landscape, Elizabeth Yochim’s performance, and my own gaze. I was not interested in documenting a ritual, but in revealing the relationship between body, place, and memory. Each image captures a threshold where the ancient landscape and the living presence of the artist converge, inviting us to experience archaeology not as something confined to the past, but as a living presence.”
The exhibition opens with a reception on Saturday, August 15, from 7:30–9:30 p.m., culminating in a live multimedia performance at 8:30 p.m. that expands the photographic work into an immersive encounter with Sardinia's prehistoric landscape.
The project also marks the beginning of Yochim's next phase of research in Italy. This fall, she will continue researching and developing embodied approaches to cultural heritage through studies with IRIDIS (Institute for Research on Innovation, International Law and Sustainability) and the EMPATHS initiative at the Archaeological Park of the Phlegraean Fields near Naples. The research investigates how contemporary artistic practice can deepen public engagement with archaeological sites through movement, participation, and direct experience.
“We often encounter archaeology as something to observe,” said Yochim. “This project asks what becomes possible when we experience ancient places with our whole bodies and as living landscapes that continue to shape memory, identity, and our understanding of what it means to be human.”
The exhibition also inaugurates the Living Body Arts Fund, a new initiative supporting artistic and educational programs exploring embodiment, creativity, and transformation. Proceeds from the opening performance will help establish the Living Body Arts Scholarship, expanding public access to interdisciplinary artistic experiences. The Living Body Arts Fund is fiscally sponsored by the Center for Conscious Creativity.
Kate McCallum, Executive Director of the Center for Conscious Creativity, sees the exhibition as reflecting a broader cultural conversation about innovation and human experience:
“At the Center for Conscious Creativity, we see technology as part of the ongoing evolution of human consciousness. Elizabeth Yochim's work reminds us that as we move forward, we must remain deeply connected to what makes us human. Through embodied experience, cultural heritage, and contemporary art, she demonstrates that innovation and technology are most transformative when grounded in presence, participation, and our relationship to one another and the living world.”
Exhibition: "Between Earth and Sky: Nuraghe Piscu, Sardinia"
Dates: August 15–September 6, 2026
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 15, 7:30–9:30 p.m.
Live Multimedia Performance: 8:30 p.m.
Location:
YA!
3379 Robertson Place
Los Angeles, CA 90034
For interviews, images, or additional information, please contact Elizabeth Yochim at ey@elizabethyochim.com or visit www.yaproject.space.
Elizabeth Yochim
YA!
ey@yochimarts.com
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"Between Earth and Sky: Nuraghe Piscu, Sardinia" asks a timely question: What can ancient places teach us about being human today?
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