Biennale Gherdëina Turns Dolomites into an Alpine Art Trail

The tenth edition of Biennale Gherdëina, titled "(Future) Paradise Gardens," curated by Samuel Leuenberger, opened across St. Ulrich, St. Christina, and the Pilat Alm mountain farm in South Tyrol. The biennial presents 24 projects by 28 artists, using the garden as a political and ecological metaphor. Highlights include Lydia Ourahmane's reactivation of the abandoned Hotel Ladinia, where visitors bring their own drinks, and Bas Smets and Eliane Le Roux's installation of 300 snow measuring stakes marking historical snowlines. Judith Neunhäuserer's "Mushroom Clouds Over Our Garden" hangs glass shards with texts about Laura and Enrico Fermi, who fell in love there in 1926, and incorporates radioactive dust from Chernobyl. Sandra Knecht's two-meter-high carved figure with a movable mask references local woodcarving traditions. Augustas Serapinas relocated a hay hut from Seiser Alm to St. Ulrich, reassembling it as an archive. Andrius Arutiunian's "Banquet of Rocks" features bitumen-covered sculptures and invented underworld deities. Dorota Gawęda and Eglė Kulbokaitė's installation at Hotel Ladinia uses aluminum parts from CERN and soaped wood, with Greek-Albanian lullabies and laments. Kelly Tissot's black-and-white photographs document wood toy workshops in St. Christina. The biennial emphasizes the region's intertwining of tourism, craftsmanship, climate change, and history, requiring visitors to hike between venues.