a breath? a name? – the ways of world making, Biennale Gardëina 7

The “Zënza Sëida” association and the team of Biennale Gherdëina is very pleased to announce that the 7th edition of Biennale Gherdëina, international exhibition of contemporary art will take place in the public space of Ortisei/Val Gardena (South Tyrol), in the heart of the Dolomites UNESCO world heritage site, from August 8 until October 20 2020.

In this period of uncertainty, expectation and change, we are convinced that art can offer an important social contribution. By organising the seventh edition of the Biennale Gherdëina we wish to send a positive signal of hope. Contemporary art is a key element in a constantly evolving culture.

This edition of the Biennale Gherdëina, entitled ‘– a breath? a name? – the ways of worldmaking’, will address themes such as the meaning of belonging, community, responsibility, care and humility, and stage collective actions in relation to the social environment and nature.

The previously featured thematic fields relate to the significance of the cultural legacy,the research of historical strategic positioning, the praise of the communal, the omnipresence of the nature and its “industry” – will receive a social and political framing with no ignorance to the poetic, the spiritual and the existential, thus further unfolding the complexity of the vernacular language with an attention paid to the continuity and perseverance of tradition, its necessary rewriting and undoing as well as its transformative potential.

The Biennale will be focused on the importance and the awareness of a political gesture in an active process of worldmaking, on its dynamic factor that guarantees a resilience of culture and nature, shapes the emancipated vernacular uniqueness of a place and manifests a brave, mature vision of a future to come.

Three chapters on sociology of an encounter and the politics of the plural will constitute the core of „the ways of worldmaking“: ecology of others – on reinvigorating therelationality (following Philippe Descola’s reflection upon the nature-culture binary),in praise of hands – on the craft of touch (enhanced by Henri Focillon’s dream of art’s autonomy within the domains of materials, techniques and signs) and the cloud of possibles – on dissemination of enthusiasm and the power of differentiation (referring to Maurizio Lazzarato’s shift from capital-labour to capital-life). The notions of responsibility andhumility connect all three chapters in an attempt to define the agencies of responsivenessand care, the main challenges in the active process of worldmaking.

The exhibition will be curated by Adam Budak (Prague), who was also responsible for the last two editions, From Here to Eternity (2016) and Writing the Mountains (2018). This year he will conclude his trilogy, again with contents that embrace the unique nature, culture and history of this Dolomite valley through contemporary artworks in public spaces.