Biennale Gherdëina ∞
May 20–September 25, 2022
We want to tell you about this person who is a tree, who is a lake, who is a stone, who is you and who is me. About this person who is a star and who is young because they is old; who speaks the language of minerals, sings the song of rivers and howls at dawn, because they are also dog. We want to tell you about their dreams, griefs and desires. About their body, their hand that gives and their hand that takes, their eyes that hear and tongue that paints; how their roots walk and their fur travels.
We want to tell you about Persons Persone Personen, the Biennale Gherdëina ∞.
Dialoguing with the Alpine valleys, mountains and skies of Ladinia, in the Dolomites, and celebrating the multitude of living forms—human, animal, vegetal, mineral, mycological persons—that populate them. The stories of Persons Persone Personen are told in many manners. Through exhibitions, encounters, performances, songs, storytelling, hugs, books and other streams of exchange. And in many languages: English and Ladinia’s idioms: Ladin, Italian, German.
Curated by Lucia Pietroiusti and Filipa Ramos, Persons Persone Personen will move along two lines:
One considers forms of personhood in wildlife and landscapes, legal and other, asking how artistic expressions can contribute to this recognition of Earth’s rights and to the dilution of divides.
The other attends to the ancient and future memories of pathways of people, animals, plants and matter across systems of migration, seasonal displacement and transhumance, in the region and resonating landscapes. To how they shape and constitute one another in a continuous process of mutual influence and attunement.
Biennale Gherdëina ∞, entitled Persons Persone Personen, will happen from May to September 2022 in Ortisei Urtijëi St. Ulrich and the surrounding landscape of Val Gardena Gherdëina Gröden.
Zënza Sëida VFG is a non-profit organisation committed to conveying contemporary culture and aimed at valorising, promoting, and producing contemporary art, which it views as a fundamental tool for growth and development, in South Tyrol. One of its core activities is the Biennale Gherdëina.
Founded by Doris Ghetta in 2008 and located in the unique setting of the Unesco World Heritage Centre of the Dolomites, the Biennale Gherdëina commissions and produces contemporary artworks, exhibited in and around Ortisei. The Biennale Gherdëina fosters the dialogue between innovation and the valley’s renowned wood sculpture tradition, which represented the initial focus of the event. Edition after edition, the dialogue with other artistic and geographic traditions has expanded. Previous editions were curated by Adam Budak, Luca Beatrice, and Günther Oberhollenzer. Today, the Biennale Gherdëina is an important institution rooted in South Tyrol, from where it hosts local, national, and international artists, thinkers and audiences who confront themselves with the fascinating traditions of the Gardena Valley.
