The Biennale Gherdëina ∞ is a festival of contemporary art in Val Gardena, in the heart of the Dolomites. South Tyrol is a small country, but since the end of the 1990s it has been very active culturally and socially. Doris Ghetta founded her Biennale in 2008 with the aim of promoting South Tyrol as a region for contemporary art and culture. What started as a small project with local artists is now a globally recognized biennial with international curators and artists.

The Biennale Gherdëina ∞ has its focus on public space as a stage for sculptural works and celebrates a unique drilingual place with rich cultural roots and traditions. The artists always come in advance to get to know the specifics of the place, and then based on this knowledge realize their project for Val Gardena. The current Biennale Gherdeina ∞ entitled Persones Persons, will move along two lines. One line will deal with personhood in the animal world and in nature, asking how art can contribute to the recognition of the rights of the planet and the elimination of divisions. The curators are Lucia Pietroiusti and Filipa Ramos.

The other line will address ancient and also future memories of the ways of people, animals, plants and matter within systems of migration and migratory grazing. Alethea Magazine obtained an interview with the founder of the Biennale Gherdëina ∞, Doris Ghetta.

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Name: Doris Ghetta

Occupation: Curator, Entrepreneur

Statement: "We see the Biennale project, its uniqueness and particularity, embedded in our unmistakable landscape."

Next: Wants to make the Biennale Gherdëina the centre of the international art world.

"We see the Biennale project, its uniqueness and particularity, embedded in our unmistakable landscape, as a promising project that should become more and more established in the international art world in the course of the coming editions."

Can you tell me something about yourself, how your career began and how you see the role of contemporary art in South Tyrol?

Contemporary art has always played an important role in my life, my grandfather was one of the founders of the renowned art association "Circle for Art and Culture" Ortisei Ortisei. So contemporary art was part of our family culture since my childhood and was an important part of my involvement. When in 2008 the traveling biennial Manifesta was hosted in South Tyrol/Trentino, a whole series of new initiatives emerged and South Tyrol was to become a hotspot for contemporary art. In the same year Museion, the museum for contemporary art in Bolzano, also opened its newly built home. I didn't want to miss this important moment to be present with a project myself.

South Tyrol is a small, but since the end of the 1990s very active country in the field of contemporary art and culture, with a wealth of institutions and activities in this area. In addition to Museion, we have a whole series of other spaces and initiatives, such as ar/ge Kunst, Kunst Merano Arte, Lungomare, BAU, Transart, and others, whose activities are very well networked internationally. Furthermore, there is a considerable number of visual artists such as Rudolf Stingl, Gilbert Prousch from Gilbert&George, Esther Stocker, Siggi Hofer, Aron Demetz, Michael Fliri and others who come from South Tyrol and have made a career on the international stage. We are in close exchange with some of them.

The Biennale Gherdëina was founded in 2008 with the aim of profiling South Tyrol as a region for contemporary art and culture. What have you achieved since then and what are your plans for the future?

In 2008 we started with a small project as a parallel event to Manifesta, at that time there were five artists* who were shown with existing works in the pedestrian zone of Ortisei. Since 2016, we have been working with internationally renowned curators, including Adam Budak, who was one of the curators of Manifesta in 2008, and had already gotten to know our country at that time. Adam has made a great contribution to developing this biennial into an internationally recognized art event. For this year's edition we have been able to recruit Lucia Pietroiusti and Filipa Ramos as curators, who have now invited 31 artists* who are developing new projects especially for the Biennale Gherdëina. The themes of this biennial are ecology and sustainability, focusing on the relationship with the landscape, the coexistence of people, animals and plants, and their link with cultural traditions. Furthermore, the theme of transhumance, as well as stories, myths and the linguistic heritage of Val Gardena will be explored.

We see the Biennale project, its uniqueness and particularity, embedded in our unmistakable landscape, as a promising project that should become more and more established in the international art world in the course of the coming editions.

Are the selected artworks related to the region and what criteria do you use to select the artists artisans?

The selection of the artists was made by the curators. In addition to artists from all over the world, for this year's edition, after a series of studio visits by the curators Lucia Pietroiusti and Filipa Ramos, artists from Val Gardena such as Bruno Walpoth, Thaddäus Salcher and Adolf Vallazza have also been invited.

The curators and artists have already met with local experts, such as the paleontologist and archaeologist Herwig Prinoth, the linguist and poet Rut Bernardi, the biologist and ornithologist Iacun Prugger, the art historian Sofia Stuflesser, the folklorist Ulrike Kindl and the expert in wildlife monitoring Davide Righetti, as part of their research and preparations last year.

Are you inspired by the surroundings of Gherdëina/Val Gardena Italy, which is in the heart of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage?

Each issue deals with different themes to explore and narrate the place of Val Gardena, its cultural roots, its linguistic peculiarity, the nature of the Dolomites and the historical craftsmanship of the valley. Especially the artists coming from outside are very interested in getting to know these peculiarities in advance, in order to realize their own project for Val Gardena on the basis of this knowledge.

Alex Checchetti, Mountain hut, 2021. Project realized with the support of the Italian Council (2021).

Can you tell me something about Zënza Sëida?

Zënza sëida is a very young cultural organization that works to expand the appreciation, understanding and creation of contemporary art in South Tyrol and Val Gardena. We strongly believe that this is a key tool for growth and development. As an association for contemporary art in all its forms, our central concern is to trace the most diverse interfaces between contemporary art and traditional and non-artistic fields. Furthermore, we support new research and production conditions, and promote awareness of cultural systems and socio-political processes. The aim is to research and question the connection between man and his cultural environment, especially in the areas of Ladin culture and language, the exchange with local crafts, the sustainable and long-term development of quality tourism, and, among other things, the promotion of music, film, theater and dance.

biennalegherdeina.org

Alex Checchetti, Mountain hut, 2021. Project realized with the support of the Italian Council (2021).