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Visitors to Filoli this summer and fall have the opportunity to meet some special guests, bearing an important message. Six enormous, whimsical trolls — the creation of Danish artist Thomas Dambo — are stationed throughout the historic estate’s natural lands and make up Dambo’s “Trolls: Save the Humans” traveling exhibition.
“You’ll see them through the redwoods and the oak forest and you kind of come upon them as you’re hiking,” Willa Brock, Filoli’s interim director of collections and interpretation, said.
The trolls are made from reclaimed materials and are on a mission to inspire humans to rediscover nature and be better stewards of the environment. In Dambo’s storyline, these six creatures represent a group of younger, activist trolls who believe humankind is worth saving, as opposed to the grumpier older trolls who think it’s a lost cause.
“They each have their own personality; that’s what I love about them,” Brock said. “Each of them gives a different angle to the problem.”
There’s Basse Buller, the painting troll, a wild and funny troll who expresses himself with mud paint and rocks; Ibbi Pip, the birdhouse troll, a friend to all animals, whose many birdhouses can be seen on the trail; and Kamma Can, the treasure troll, who creatively repurposes trash into objects of beauty. Ronja Redeye, the speaker troll, is the smallest, yet boasts leadership skills and heartfelt words; introverted botanical troll Rosa Sunfinger cares for the forest flora (and uses cars as flower pots); and Sofus Lotus, the listening troll, with his ear to the ground, is tuned in to nature’s changing rhythms. (Filoli’s website even offers a “troll personality” quiz – this reporter got Sofus Lotus, in case you wondered.)
Dambo is known for using recycled materials and promoting an eco-friendly message through his art. According to Filoli’s website, his vision “is to create art that inspires people to go explore, have adventures in nature, and demonstrates that trash can be turned into something beautiful.”
At a media preview event, Dambo discussed his art and his ongoing trolls project.
He’s created more than 100 trolls worldwide, developing elaborate backstories and engaging in worldbuilding — “small, silly stories with big, serious meanings,” as he put it. “The monumental amount of sculptures and the monumental size of my work then also shines a light on the monumental problem of our waste, of all the waste that we create,” he said.
Coming from Denmark, he said that trolls loom large in folklore and children’s literature, and, as they are protectors of the forest, they work well with his environmental message.
The installation is made for close-up, hands-on encounters. Sofus Lotus, for example, situated beneath a picturesque California bay laurel tree, is frequently explored by climbing kids.
“It’s a really cool opportunity to really interact with the art,” Brock said.
Dambo grew up in close contact with the outdoors and said he wants his work to encourage similar interactive experiences.
“I think it’s really good for kids to get out,” he said, emphasizing that a relationship with the environment, as opposed to a virtual world of AI and video games, helps encourage a desire to protect it.
He also likes that finding the trolls can be a bit of a treasure hunt, and there are Facebook groups dedicated to “troll hunters” who seek and log their discoveries.
Basse Buller, the painting troll, is in some ways a self-portrait of Dambo. This playful, creative troll, “is a little bit like how I was a young teenager — running around, painting graffiti, coming up with ideas like that,” Dambo said at the media event.
“He is in this beautiful redwood grove; he’s written out, ‘Save the humans’ in rocks, next our new nature play space Filoli just opened in conjunction with the exhibit,” Brock said. The nature play space features sustainable materials, stumps to walk on, fairy houses, and “a little tea party with recycled, thrifted cups” for imaginative play, she added.
“Trolls: Save the Humans,” which opened in June and runs through Nov. 10, is part of Filoli’s ongoing plans to utilize its natural spaces.
“Bigger picture, this is such a great fit for Filoli. We’re trying to invite people into our natural lands,” Brock said.
Special “transforming trash” hands-on art activities using recycled materials will be offered in conjunction with the exhibition occasionally, including on Aug. 12 and Sept. 10 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
After the trolls exhibition closes in November, “we will be activating (the natural spaces) in new and exciting ways for the holidays and beyond,” Brock said. “We really want to welcome people into our forests and our meadows and our oak woodlands and help them connect with the magic of nature here.”
“Trolls: Save the Humans” is on view through Nov. 10 at Filoli, 86 Cañada Road, Woodside. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with extended hours on certain days. General admission is $26-$39. More information is available at filoli.org.
This story features additional reporting by Jennifer Yoshikoshi.
Charming!