VERNISSAGE Ausstellung Konzept Heimat/VERNISSAGE Mostra: Concetto Heimat/SKB ART
Bolzano/Bozen, Bolzano/Bozen and environs
A regional exhibition project on the ambivalent concept of Heimat in cooperation between the Heimatpflegeverband Südtirol, the Südtiroler Künstlerbund and the Granaio di Nomi, organised on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Heimatpflegeverband Südtirol.
Rooted from early childhood, the Heimat accompanies people throughout their lives, shaping identities and entire families. It can be familiar or lost, and serves as a utopian construct that simultaneously conveys a seemingly real emotional condition.
The German word Heimat is difficult to translate into Italian - as in other languages - and few concepts are so strongly connoted by emotion and yet so deeply nuanced. In a world of constant change, which entails a loss of social ties, the nurturing of tradition and Heimat appears as an alternative to modern digitised speed. Heimat is experienced on the one hand as an Arcadian refuge that stimulates self-reflection. On the other hand, history and the current political situation show how this ideal can be instrumentalised and lead to exclusion, even to violence and war.
Under fundamentally changed living conditions, the concept of Heimat increasingly takes on new meanings. In relation to waves of migration, Heimat represents a complex interface that raises questions of belonging, cultural rootedness and adaptability. People who leave their Heimat and live in new environments look for ways to define their identity in the conflict between past and present.
Added to this is the influence of climate change, which entails not only physical but also emotional changes. Solastalgia - the feeling of homesickness without having left one's home, caused by environmental changes in one's area - is spreading.
In this extensive exhibition, between the SKB ARTES venues, the outdoor area of the NOI Techpark and the Granary in Nomi, 25 artists from the region explore the concept of 'Heimat' through various media and on various levels of content. They deconstruct the term and investigate which dimensions the complex and layered concept of Heimat can encompass on a cultural, geographical, social, political and emotional level, both in the present and in the future.Participating artists: Leonhard Angerer, Walter Blaas, Italo Bressan, Susanne Burchia, Stefano Cagol, Hannes Egger, Ulrich Egger, Karolina Gacke, Werner Gasser, Elisabeth Hölzl, Elias Jocher, Wil-ma Kammerer, Kira Kessler, Angelo Demitri Morandini, Manuel Oberkalmsteiner, Elisabeth Oberrauch, Laura Pan, Lissy Pernthaler, Christian Piffrader, Leonora Prugger, Paula Prugger, Sylvie Riant, Ariel Trettel, Gustav Willeit, Andreas Zingerle.
Curators: Eleonora Klauser Soldá, Lisa Trockner. Co-curators: Remo Forchini and Valentine Kostner.
The exhibition opens on Saturday 7 September at 5 p.m. at SKB ARTES in Bolzano and on Friday 13 September at 6.30 p.m. at the Granaio in Nomi. The exhibition will be open until 25 October. The outdoor installation at the NOI Techpark is also accessible free of charge until 25 October.