Biodiversity Focus for Creativamente Roero 2023 Artist Residency

The fifth edition of Creativamente Roero, an annual residency program in Piedmont, Italy, has selected biodiversity as its theme. Artists Maura Banfo, Johannes Pfeiffer, Monica Lugas, and Gosia Turzeniecka are creating site-specific works across the villages of Govone, Castagnito, San Martino Alfieri, and Santo Stefano Roero. The residency aims to enhance cultural and environmental heritage while fostering territorial regeneration through community engagement, workshops, and research. Curator Patrizia Rossello notes the relevance of the theme to the Roero area, a UNESCO-recognized wine region known for its balanced agricultural and landscape practices. Lugas's work in San Martino Alfieri features a glass slab engraved with a pallium, referencing the town's patron saint. Banfo's installation in Castagnito traces water paths through the village, culminating in a shell cast atop a well. Pfeiffer creates three light rays in Govone and Pocapaglia symbolizing genetic, species, and taxonomic diversity. Turzeniecka paints beehives on the walls of a primary school in Santo Stefano Roero, highlighting apiculture's role in environmental protection. The projects aim to build a network for an open-air museum.