Art in nature in the Dolomites

A sculpture park with a difference - sculptures that biodegrade - is a hidden gem tucked away in a high, remote area of Italy's Dolomite mountains.

Getting there requires some determination and faith - there's a long drive along very narrow twisting, unsigned mountain roads - but all is forgiven when you reach this extraordinarily beautiful place. 

Artesella is an exhibition of art in nature in the woods of the Sella valley,Val di Sella, about 40 km from Trento in the South Tyrol.

Roger Rigorth, Drago, 2013

Several hundred international artists from around the world have come here since the 1980s to create artworks from materials found in the forest.

Anton Schaller, Rifugio, 2011

Works appear randomly along a 3 km walking route, called ArteNatura, through the forest. 

Each one is intended to express a relationship with nature. All are made of stones, leaves, branches and other organic materials collected in the surrounding Alpine forest.

Sally Matthews, Cervi/Deer, 2014

The idea is that they will ultimately naturally degrade into the landscape: 
'the works come out of the landscape, they inhabit it and,according to nature's timescale, they return to it again', according to Artesella's manifesto.

Aeneas Wilder, no title

In the summer, Artesella also thrives as a cultural centre - there's a natural amphitheatre in a clearing where outdoor concerts and theatre performances are held in this incredible mountain setting.

Alfio Bonnano, Chiocciola/Snail, 2012

Steven Siegel, Bridge II, 2009 - made entirely of old newspapers

Patrick Dougherty Tana Libera Tutti, 2011, bottom right

The largest-scale and most impressive work is the Cattedrale Vegetale, tree cathedral, created by Italian artist Giuliano Mauri in 2001. 

Giuliano Mauri, Cattedrale Vegetale, 2011

Over 3000 branches have been twisted and woven into naves and columns. In time the hornbeam trees planted within each column will replace the supporting log structure as it rots away and dies, preserving the shape of the cathedral.

I took these photos on a visit in September last year in early autumn. Since the works decay and disappear over time, the curators recognise the importance of keeping a photographic record, and this function has been taken on by a local, Aldo Fedele. This is one of his amazing pictures of the cathedral under snow, which makes me badly want to return to Artesella in the depths of winter ...  

Photo credit: Aldo Fedele


Artesella, Borgo Valsugana, Italy - making art in and with nature.

The Dolomites - peaks of perfection

North of the flat region of Venice, Verona and the Valpolicella vineyards are the Dolomite mountains.

They have distinctive charcoal-and-white sheer faces ... 

which on the day that we were winding upwards along hairpin bends were blending photogenically with overcast grey skies.

Snapping from the car window I watched how the character of towns and villages changes completely up here, making you wonder if you've unknowingly left Italy and arrived in Austria. Even the shape of the church steeples is different.

We were headed for the little mountain town of San Cassiano - a ski resort high up in the Dolomites. This is the Alta Badia region of the South Tyrol, and a place where cultures and languages collide.

It's strange to have to remind yourself that you're in Italy when you're being served muesli, sauerkraut or strudel, depending on the time of day, by women with Tyrolese braids, wearing dirndls and speaking German.

A majority of people here are German speakers and some of these wish it were independent or could be reunited with Austria.

But while Italian speakers are in the minority, there's another vocal linguistic minority group of Ladin speakers. Ladin (a Romance language) has been spoken here since the days of the Roman Empire (see here).

It's the third official language in this region and another of Europe's linguistic minorities that is fighting for preservation, with its own schools and media channels.

St Hubertus is one of two Michelin starred restaurants in San Cassiano, making it one of the few ski resorts that is also a foodie destination

Multiple identities aside, this area is incredibly beautiful, in or out of the skiing season ...

Gondola lifts operate outside of the skiing season for mountain hikers

Duvets and general bettzeug airing over balconies, German/Austrian-style

... surrounded on all sides by the awe inspiring Dolomites, the Monti Pallidi, Pale Mountains, as the Italians named them, for the changing colours of the white rocks.

Südtirol/Alto Adige, September 2014

Byblos

Just outside Verona, surrounded by the vineyards of Valpolicella 

is a hotel which from the outside appears a gracious, classical Venetian villa

with landscaped gardens, a marble fountain and traditionally designed pool.

And although there are some startling, unexpected features

and a foretaste of eye-popping, intense colour

still, none of it quite prepares you for what you see when you walk in the front door.

At the Byblos Art Hotel every public space and bedroom suite is filled with an extraordinary permanent collection of contemporary art and design.

The work of Italian architect and designer Alessandro Mendini (see here and here)

it's a fabulous eclectic design mix of iconic 20th century furniture design and works by contemporary artists such as Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Cindy Sherman and many others, against a backdrop of 17th century Venetian architecture.

Your head is constantly turning in this place, craning, noticing not just the big startling visuals in a riot of colours, but the small unexpected details that surprise you everywhere you look

psychedelic trompe l'oeil passage leading to bedrooms

the conference room is tamer, calmer, but beautifully designed in Byblos's signature intense orange

Dali's lips meet Keith Haring's dogs

a winking, talking, disembodied head keeps guests company in the dining room 

blinking electric sculpture on the stairway down to the spa

If contemporary art and design are your thing this place is heaven, and even if not, it is definitely one of the most unusual and memorable hotel experiences you're likely to have. I totally loved it.

Portofino

Just over an hour's drive along the Ligurian coast towards Genoa from the rugged and remote Cinque Terre gets you to the heart of the Italian Riviera.

Driving through beautiful Rapallo to Portofino, the views of intense blue-green sea are still spectacular, but peeling tumble-down village houses are traded for elegant mansions and fishing boats for expensive yachts.

Portofino, on a rocky promontory overlooking a protected cove, is a holiday home for some of Italy's elite and a favourite spot to park luxury yachts. 

But its basic appearance has apparently changed very little over the last half century, probably due to the intervention of powerful people who like to keep it exclusive and discreet.

The harbour is lined with heavily flowered, terraced, shuttered apartments, discreetly tucked-in designer-brand shops and chic restaurants, all with views to the ongoing entertainment of this busy little port. 

Topping the hillside that overlooks Portofino is the legendary Hotel Splendido (just visible top left in the pic below), where film stars and politicians have stayed since the days of Churchill, Bogart and Bacall.

We walked all the way up a winding footpath from the harbour to reach it, rewarded with sights like this on the way.

to have a cold prosecco on the garden terrace of the Splendido, and reflect on how the very rich live.

Portofino, September 2014