From a beetle on horseback to an underground forest, these works of art from the Gherdëina Biennale in the Italian Tyrolean Alps are as intriguing as they are powerful.
In its ninth edition, the Gherdëina Biennale presents more than 30 artists and collectives, with new commissions, existing works of art and performances that dialogue with the spectacular Dolomites, protected by UNESCOas well as the rich Ladino folklore and culture that inhabit them.
Curated by historian and Italian art commissioner Lorenzo Giusti, with Marta Papini as deputy curator, the 2024 exhibition is themed “The Groundhog Parliament“. This title is inspired by a local Ladino myth about the fanes, the legendary founding population of the Ladinos, who prospered thanks to their alliance with the marmots with whom they shared the land.
Drawing on the cultural connections between the region and the Mediterranean, the participating artists – spanning various disciplines – come from all of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Starting from the Ladino legend, they approach the earth as a space to encounter history and nature, but also to write new stories.
These are the eight artists not to be missed:
Diana Policarpo – Fuente de Anguane (2024) and Fuente de Anguane, Arroyo (COBRACORAL) (2024)
Located on the side of a picturesque hill, the Great Gardena Castle It hosts several works of art at the Biennale, including the Anguane Fountain (2024) by Diana Policarpo, which is located in the courtyard of the historic castle.
Policarpo’s ethereal sculpture, which springs from an ancient fountain, is inspired by the shape of a carnivorous sponge from the depths of the ocean and serves as a tribute by the artist to the “anguanes”: female figures from Ladino mythology, traditionally associated with the water and known as guardians of mountains, forests and waters.
The sculpture of Polycarp is combined with a experimental sound composition of other words that combines human and non-human, verbal and non-verbal sounds.
Nadia Kaabi-Linke – Seta (2024)
“So dirty [al bosque], pay attention to the ground. You will see that the roots are really very thick, very visible,” says Nadia Kaabi-Linke. Inspired by the fall of trees as a result of summer storms, the Tunisian – and Ukrainian – artist based in Berlin has transformed a basement in the center of Ortisei into an underground forest: the roots of the trees seem to grow from the ground, making their way through the concrete, the forest recovering an urban space once again as its own.
“I wanted to create a work that would put in contact culture and nature. I wanted the roots to grow within the structure of the building,” reflects Kaabi-Linke, encouraging visitors to stay inside long enough for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. “It’s not being bad, it’s not being good, it’s It simply is,” says Kaabi-Linke of nature. “Our thing is to be with it and find our way of being. What would happen if we stopped, breathed and were like nature.”
Julius von Bismarck – Beetle on Horseback (2024)
The Beetle on Horseback by German artist Julius von Bismarck stands proud in the center of Ortisei. It is not unusual to find a monument to a hero on horsebackbut the hero in question is quite different: a combination of human and bark beetle, a tiny creature that burrows inside trees and chews on their bark.
This forest pest has caused the disappearance of large areas of forest in the Dolomitesvisible on the slopes surrounding the city, and climate change has exacerbated the threat. Von Bismarck presents the beetle as a triumphant conqueror and asks if the real plague of the environment is nature or human beings. “He is an ambassador for animals or other lives [no humanas] that taught us something”, explains von Bismarck.
Atelier dell’Errore – Vela Alpina (2024) y Marmottoloide (2024)
In response to the topic “The Groundhog Parliament“, Reggio Emilia-based neurodivergent art collective Atelier dell’Errore has transformed the Biennale’s office space in Pontives with its renderings of what artistic director Luca Santiago Mora calls “Marmottoloides,” futuristic creatures with a distinctive punk air, each one with its own story.
Furthermore, the group – whose only rule, as Mora explains, is that “not a single error can be erased during the artistic process” – presents its “Alpine Sail” on a lamppost in front of the Biennial headquarters.
This piece, based on a material that transforms the thermal blankets used by immigrants on the coasts of the Mediterranean into an effective sail, is at the same time a nod to the sea that shaped the Dolomites 250 million years ago and a reversal of the narrative: what was once rescue material is now a symbol of hope, progress and empowerment.
Nassim Azarzar – The edge of the forest (2024)
After developing the visual language of this work during a long investigation in Morocco, Nassim Azarar combines North African shapes and colors with the landscapes and folklore of the Dolomites to create a striking mural on the façade of the historic Ladinia Hotel.
Born in France to Moroccan parents, Azarzar adorns the building with a abstract work reminiscent of a Moroccan mosaic: each painted section has its own story to tell, although they combine to convey a deep connection between human beings, nature and the universe in general.
Laurent Le Deunff – Snow Owl, Crocodile, Snail (2024)
When you enter the door of the Biennale Gherdëina offices, you are greeted by an unexpected sight: something between a fairytale forest and a pet cemetery. Laurent Le Deunff’s “Chouette des neiges, Crocodile, Escargot” uses tree bark, moss, plants and saplings to create an enchanting secret garden in the building’s lobby, inhabited by tombstone-shaped monuments to a snow owl, a crocodile and a snail. As Le Deunff explains, he made these effigies using the rocaille technique, in which concrete is carved to look like wood, especially pertinent in an area like Val Gardena, known for its tradition of wood carving.
“This art of rocaille… this kind of sculpture with a head on a pedestal, it is usually for a human representation,” says the artist. “This is like a cemetery… but the art is dedicated to non-human animals.” Full of surprises and more than a touch of humor, Le Deunff’s work is a reminder of both the connections between human and non-human animalslike what Things may not be exactly what they seem.
Ingela Ihrman – First Came the Ocean (2024)
At the top of the Juac plateau, the Swedish artist Ingela Ihrman presents the only intervention of the Biennial in wild nature.
ADVERTISINGHis installation “First Came the Ocean” sees fallen tree trunks and branches, victims of recent storms and the bark beetle epidemic, form the gigantic skeleton of a marine animal: a reflection on what The Alps were coral reefs and the plateau meadows were the seabed.
“I have been making human skeletons: one in Sweden, another in the Eden Project a few years ago. That becomes very sad, almost like mourning a human body,” says Ihrman, and contrasts it with the realization (much more meditative and abstract ) of the skeleton of “an animal that does not exist.”
Ruth Beraha – Heaven is for the Violent (2024)
What is Ruth Beraha’s sound installation “The Sky is the Violent” It lacks in images to show here, it makes up for it in impact. The artist’s immersive sound work, made in collaboration with a local ornithologist, occupies a disused theater room.
In the dark, the installation begins with the idyllic singing of birds, followed by the songs of native and migratory birds, until it becomes a frenetic and almost violent cacophony of songs and flapping wings.
Although the soft song of the first bird also ends the soundscapethe dystopian crescendo of the audio is an unkind reminder of the power of nature.
ADVERTISINGThe ninth edition of the Gherdëina Biennial: The Groundhog Parliament It is celebrated until September 1, 2024 in Ortisei, Pontives and Selva Val Gardena.
