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? The exhibition “Funga – a Hidden World,” opened yesterday at the Museum of Natural Sciences, explores these questions.

Fungi are among the most ancient and at the same time most invisible protagonists of life on Earth. The temporary exhibition invites visitors to discover this independent kingdom, going beyond the fruiting bodies and the idea of fungi as merely food.

Fungi mostly act in the shadows: what is commonly called a “mushroom” is only the fruiting body (comparable to an apple on a tree). The actual organism consists of a branching network of fine cellular filaments, the 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 stationary, but they cannot perform photosynthesis. Therefore, like animals, they must feed by absorbing organic substances, which they take in from their environment in dissolved form. According to current knowledge, fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants.

Fungi play a central role in symbioses: more than 90% of all terrestrial plants live in symbiosis with them. Fungal hyphae extend the root systems of plants and improve the absorption of water and nutrients, while plants provide sugars to the fungi. Without these relationships, the colonization of land would have been almost impossible. Lichens—communities of fungi and algae or cyanobacteria—also demonstrate that fungi are capable of colonizing even extreme habitats.

The exhibition was inaugurated on 11 February 2026 by the museum’s director David Gruber and the curators Petra Mair, curator of the bryology section, and Margit Schweigkofler, museum educator. It will be on display until February 2027 on the ground floor of the South Tyrol Museum of Natural Sciences.

The exhibition also explains that fungi communicate not only chemically but possibly electrically as well: many species conduct electrical impulses through their mycelium. Research suggests that these signals may serve for information processing and that their patterns could resemble a kind of “language,” a field of study that remains 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 healing remedies, as elements of rituals and myths, and as characteristic motifs in art and popular culture. Current approaches to sustainable materials and biotechnological applications finally offer a glimpse into the future.

The exhibition was inaugurated on 9 February 2026 by the museum’s director David Gruber and the curators Petra Mair, curator of the bryology section, and Margit Schweigkofler, museum educator. It will be on display until February 2027 on the ground floor of the South Tyrol Museum of Natural Sciences.