Biennale Gherdëina 9
May 31–September 1, 2024
Biennale Gherdëina, located in the unique setting of the UNESCO World Heritage Dolomites, is delighted to announce the opening of the 9th edition, titled The Parliament of Marmots, curated by Lorenzo Giusti with Marta Papini as associate curator. The Alpine festival will take place in Ortisei and the surrounding areas of Val Gardena, from May 31 to September 1, 2024. The opening days on Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1 will be the occasion to celebrate together through a full programme of performances, guided tours, film screenings, music, food and more.
Through various formats—including new productions for the public space, performances, solo and group exhibitions, and workshops open to the public—The Parliament of Marmots will gather the contributions of artists from different areas of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, bringing together a multifaceted community in the wonderful natural setting of Val Gardena, called upon here to explore the wild as a creative dimension, multi-speciesism as a trajectory of becoming, and the mountain as a sewing ground and narrative dimension.
The Parliament of Marmots includes works by Talar Aghbashian (1981), Atelier dell’Errore (2002), Alex Ayed (1989), Nassim Azarzar (1989), Ismaïl Bahri (1978), Yesmine Ben Khelil (1986), Ruth Beraha (1986), Chiara Bersani (1984), Alessandro Biggio (1974), Julius von Bismarck (1983), Nadim Choufi (1994), Elmas Deniz (1981), Esraa Elfeky (1989), Andro Eradze (1993), Marianne Fahmy (1992), Valentina Furian (1989), Daniele Genadry (1980), Eva Giolo (1991), Shuruq Harb (1980), Arnold Holzknecht (1960), Michael Höpfner (1973), Ingela Ihrman (1985), Nadia Kaabi-Linke (1978), Katia Kameli (1973), Laurent Le Deunff (1977), Linda Jasmin Mayer (1986), Femmy Otten (1981), Sara Ouhaddou (1986), Eva Papamargariti (1987), Diana Policarpo (1986), Janis Rafa (1984), Lin May Saeed (1973-2023), Helle Siljeholm (1981), Tobias Tavella (1990), Markus Vallazza (1936–2019) + Martino Gamper (1971), Karin Welponer (1941).
Opening programme
Friday, May 31, 2024
3pm: Vallunga, Selva di Val Gardena
L’animale selvaggio (part 1)
Pre-Opening Performance by Chiara Bersani
5pm: Castel Gardena / Fischburg
Occurring in the Atmosphere, participative performance by Tobias Tavella
Welcome by the Authorities, the Zënza Sëida President Eduard Demetz and the Curator Lorenzo Giusti
L’animale selvaggio (part 2), performance by Chiara Bersani
The Sea Of Rocks (Extract), performance by Helle Siljeholm
Culinary Encounters between The Middle East and South Tyrol, by Tocia and Ollerhond Selbergmochts
Drifters, performance by Linda Jasmin Mayer
Late Evening Music Selection and Sonic Exploration, by zuPPa collective
Saturday, June 1, 2024
10am: Spazio Ferdinand Stuflesser, Pontives
Guided tours through the venues in Pontives
2pm: Sala Trenker, Ortisei
Guided tours through the artworks in public space, at Sala Trenker, Cësa di Ladins Museum Gherdëina, and Hotel Ladinia
The Wandering Spruce, performance by Ingela Ihrman
6pm: Church Square, Ortisei
Eva Giolo, Memory Is an Animal, It Barks with Many Mouths, 2024 (20 minutes)
Introduced by Francesca Verga and Lorenzo Giusti
Noor Abuarafeh, Am I the ageless object at the Museum?, 2018 (15 minutes)
Liv Bugge, The Other Wild, 2018 (28 minutes)
Introduced by Massimo Bernardi, paleobiologist and director of the MUSE research and collections office
The Parliament of Marmots will unfold during the summer through a public programme that includes hikes, talks, performances and presentations, and a film programme in collaboration with MUSE—Museo delle Scienze di Trento and curated by Lorenzo Giusti, Alice Labor and Marta Papini, with artists' films by Noor Abuarafeh, Liv Bugge, Jumana Manna, Maeve Brennan, Yalda Afsah and Caterina Erica Shanta.
Biennale Gherdëina 9 is in partnership with GAMeC—Galleria D'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo, Museion—Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bolzano, Muse—Museo delle Scienze di Trento, Tanz Bozen Bolzano Danza and ar/ge kunst.
The Parliament of Marmots will be part of a broader network of initiatives, which will also expand to the Bergamo area and the Orobie mountain range, under the project title ‘Thinking Like a Mountain’, over the two-year period 2024–25.
Biennale Gherdëina was founded by Doris Ghetta in 2008 in the unique setting of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Dolomites. It commissions and produces contemporary works of art, which are exhibited during the festival in Ortisei and the surrounding area. Biennale Gherdëina fosters dialogue between innovation and the renowned tradition of wood sculpture, which formed the starting point of the event. Over the course of the various editions, the dialogue with artistic and geographical traditions has grown more and more. Biennale Gherdëina has been curated by Filipa Ramos and Lucia Pietroiusti, Adam Budak (trilogy), Luca Beatrice, and Günther Oberhollenzer.
International press office
Studio Nicola Jeffs, Nicola Rossiter Jeffs: nj@nicolajeffs.com
Siobhan Scott: ss@nicolajeffs.com / T +44 7794694754
