For the first edition of ARTEPOLLINO un altro sud, a prestigious scientific committee was established, to which the Region of Basilicata entrusted the selection of the artists. Chaired by Mario Cristiani, director of the Associazione Arte Continua, the committee includes, among others, Vicente Todolì, director of Tate Modern in London; Laura Barreca, appointed by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities; Catterina Seia, head of UniCredit & Art; Emanuele Montibeller, artistic director of ArteSella; Giampiero Perri, Director of the Basilicata Tourism Promotion Agency; experts from the Pollino territory and members of the Associazione Arte Pollino.
A valuable contribution to the realization of the event was provided by the Associazione Arte Continua, with its decade-long experience from Arte all’Arte. The artists invited for the first edition of ARTEPOLLINO un altro sud are three undisputed protagonists of the international contemporary art scene: Anish Kapoor, Carsten Höller, and Giuseppe Penone, who were asked to create three large-scale, permanent site-specific works in the park’s territory.
“Works,” as Vicente Todolì puts it, “capable of interpreting the spirit of the place and, at the same time, attracting the world’s attention to this territory.”
Anish Kapoor created his work in the thermal complex of Latronico (Pz), Carsten Höller in San Severino Lucano (Pz), and Giuseppe Penone in Noepoli (Pz).
A central figure in the contemporary art scene, Anish Kapoor designed an installation for the Pollino titled Earth Cinema: a 45-meter-long, 7-meter-deep “cut” in the earth, where visitors, upon entering, come into contact with the bowels of the earth—from whose depths, not far away, thermal water springs forth.
Along a riverbed rises the work of Giuseppe Penone, Teatro Vegetale: “a place that integrates into the landscape of the region, created with vegetal elements that define and shape its spaces,” as the artist writes. The theater, circular in shape (120 meters in diameter), is made with natural elements: trees, bushes, and stones. This work reflects once again the idea that there is no distinction between man and other things—a belief Penone has expressed in his most recent works.
Carsten Höller enjoys disorienting and provoking the viewer by altering traditional perceptual mechanisms. Many of his works may appear ironic and playful at first glance, but behind their innocent appearance, the artist introduces elements of doubt and uncertainty capable of changing our ordinary perception of things. One example is the large slides he created for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in London in 2006, which he described as “generators of euphoria and happiness.”
In the Pollino, Höller created the installation RB Ride, a gigantic carousel with 12 arms for 24 people. Positioned on top of a hill overlooking an extraordinary natural landscape, the work operates like a regular carousel but with an extremely slow, almost exasperating movement.
As part of ARTEPOLLINO un altro sud, an educational and territorial activation project was also launched, called “local communities,” which will conclude in September and has involved other artists such as Claudia Losi, Nils-Udo, and Anni Rapinoja, whose works will be inaugurated on September 18, 2009.
ARTEPOLLINO un altro sud is the continuation of a contemporary art journey initiated by the Region of Basilicata in 2004 with the signing of the Framework Program Agreement, which led to the realization of an initial series of interventions under the “Sensi Contemporanei” program.
Following the success of this first experience, and thanks to the synergies created with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, the Ministry of Economic Development, and the Venice Biennale, it was possible—starting in 2006—to begin work on the second phase of Sensi Contemporanei in Basilicata, aimed at realizing the ARTEPOLLINO un altro sud project.
To further develop this initiative, the Region of Basilicata promoted the establishment of the Associazione Culturale ArtePollino—made up of young people, small tourism entrepreneurs, and art enthusiasts—which aims to locally support the initiative through school training activities, the organization of workshops, and public seminars.
With ARTEPOLLINO un altro sud, the Region of Basilicata is thus placing its bet on culture—and in particular on contemporary art—as a driving force for territorial development, making it possible to build “another South.”
