INTERNATIONAL LAND ART SYMPOSIUM VILLA CERNIGLIARO HISTORIC PARK 2023

INTERNATIONAL LAND ART SYMPOSIUM VILLA CERNIGLIARO HISTORIC PARK 2023  

Zero Gravità Villa Cernigliaro per arti e culture Association invites you to participate in the International Land Art Symposium 2023. Included in the NRP Call for Proposals M1C3 - Annex A - Intervention 2.3 - Historic Parks and Gardens - Restoration Interventions, to be carried out in April 2023. Seven artists will be invited to work for 10 days in the pre-alpine area of the Valle Elvo. The artworks will be donated to public institutions and to the historic Villa Cernigliaro, home of Zero Gravità Villa Cernigliaro per arti e culture.

RULES
Art. 1 OBJECTIVES
Creation of exhibition sections based on innovation and research in terms of widespread accessibility, multimedia that make the garden a centre of interpretation of the landscape of which i’s part, an educational and participatory space:
- Enhancement of the local territory and its resources, with particular reference to the pre-alpine landscape and forest heritage of the Valle Elvo.
- Increasing the nature tourism sector through the qualified exhibition of works of art.
- Raising awareness of ways to pay respect to nature, so that it becomes a fundamental point in the relationship between the artist and the surrounding environment in which he creates; that nature is both subject and object of the work of art, stimulus and source of inspiration, so that thanks to the artist's intervention, 'space' can be transformed into 'place'.
- Re-evaluation everyday life places as well as workplaces, but also spiritual ones to merge the past with the present.
- Enrichment of the artistic heritage of the geographical area in question.
- Reflection on artistic creation as a mixture of the natural-landscape aspects and the aesthetic and functional aspects of art.
- Raising public awareness of artistic intervention with particular reference to the research and experimentation of artists belonging to the Earth Art Movement.
- Development of intercultural exchange through the coexistence of artists of different backgrounds, ages and ethnicities.
- Public awareness of contemporary artistic languages.

Art. 2 THEME
In designing the work, each participating artist must be inspired by the natural territory of Valle Elvo and its peculiarities: the different types of woods, the presence of rocks and monumental trees, streams and mountain pastures, and the characteristic high mountain scenery, so that the work is generated by stimuli, impressions and energies deriving from the environment itself, thus move away from the idea of furniture and towards the concept of environmental art of the work in relation to the site, interacting and dialoguing with its specificity.

Art. 3 PLACE
PARK AND HISTORIC GARDENS OF VILLA CERNIGLIARO
DESCRIPTION
CONSTRAINT
Historical house (formerly Villa Antonicelli-Germano) with monumental constraint of the Ministry of Culture, protection by the Superintendency of Architectural Heritage and Landscape of Piedmont. An authentic jewel of Italian culture at the beginning of the century thanks to Franco Antonicelli; an illustrious 20th-century intellectual, the Villa became an exclusive refuge - a rarity at the time - and a meeting and thinking place for that group of anti-fascist intellectuals known as the 'spiritual moral collective' composed, among many others, of: Leone Ginzburg, Norberto Bobbio, Cesare Pavese, the publishers Einaudi, Frassinelli, and again Benedetto Croce, Massimo Mila, Zino Zini, Eugenio Montale, Gustavo Colonetti, Giorgio Frassati, Carlo Linati, Carlo Levi, Delio Tessa.
The roots of the dwelling as a bulwark of social progress and resistance are deep architectural features. Built by the architect Vandone of Turin, it is an interesting example of a stately villa, a meeting point of illustrious personalities of recent Italian history around the figure of the anti-fascist man of letters Franco Antonicelli. The main building has a square plan with four corner pavilions projecting three storeys above ground; it has four symmetrical façades, the main one of which overlooks the large park full of high trees, conceived as a natural frame for the architectural complex.

GARDEN DESCRIPTION
Park features: formal terraced garden, parterre, topiary, landscaped park, decorative elements in concrete, stone and iron, pergola and greenhouse. Trees of major importance: Picea abies, Tilia platyphyllos, Magnolia grandiflora, Fagus sylvatica pendula, Cedrus atlantica, Fagus asplenifolia, Fagus sylvatica purpurea, Abies nordmanniana, Chamaecyparis stewartii aurea, Fagus sylvatica, Cedrus atlantica glauca, Ligustrum japonicum, Buxus sempervirens. The access road that leads from the main gate up to the villa underwent restoration in 2005. The restoration included the resurfacing of the cobblestones and the bottom through the use of architectural paving. Along the road, the original wrought-iron street lamps were reactivated. Towards the east, the park has mainly grassy, sinuously shaped flowerbeds, crossed by footpaths with small cobblestone kerbs on either side of the paths; at one time, the paths were probably gravel, but are now covered with lawn. In these flowerbeds, there are some tree specimens of considerable size and importance to the park: Magnolia grandiflora, Cedrus atlantica, Fagus sylvatica purpurea, Fagus sylvatica pendula, Fagus asplenifolia.
In front of the villa, to the south, are two specimens of  Tilia platyphyllos, one of which is senescent due to a fungal attack. To the east of these two subjects, the terrace overlooks the agroforestry landscape of Valle Elvo, thanks to a series of Picea abies subjects that form the right shoulder of the visual cone framing this panorama. These specimens are planted in a steeply sloping area, flanked by an area covered with shrubs, with numerous Hydrangeas. On the west side of the Villa’s park we can find a more “formal” garden with regular lines, framed by box hedges. In this area the specimens identify with: Chamaecyparis stewartii aurea, Cryptomeria, Thuja occidentale, Taxus, Fagus sylvatica, Fagus sylvatica purpurea, Cedrus atlantica glauca, Ligustrum japonicum.
The road to the north-west of the villa used to be flanked by a row of Chamaecyparis stewartii 'aurea' replaced in 2005 by a row of Dyospirus kaki, a tree that provided visual permeability between the park and the greenhouse. At the south-west side there’s an Italian-style garden, (i.e. with a parterre of Buxus sempervirens hedges arranged around a central fountain). At the end of this garden there’s a magnificent terrace with a wide panoramic view overlooking the mountain streams hidden by the forests nearby.

Art. 4 CALENDAR
This notice shall be open from 30 January 2022.
The deadline for submitting the required documentation together with the project of the work to be realized is 28 February 2023.
The jury will select the participants in the Symposium by 15 March 2023 and will make the list of selected candidates official by 28 March 2023; they will be published on the websites of the Association and of the Public Entities; during the Symposium the progress of the work will also appear for immediate public visibility.
The Symposium will take place from 20 April at 3 p.m. to 29 April, the selected artists will realize the project in 9 days. On Sunday 30 April at 4 p.m., the public presentation and exhibition opening will take place at the villa.
Programme:
. Thursday 20 arrival of the artists and visit to the Upper Elvo Valley
. Friday 21 at 9 a.m. Start of work, which will take place entirely outdoors
. From Friday 21 to Saturday 29, the artists will work according to the following timetable: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. with self-managed packed lunch break.
. Saturday 29 7 p.m. end of work.
. Sunday 30 opening day and presentation to the public visiting the works.
. Closing evening

Art. 5 REQUIREMENTS
Artists of all ethnicities, of all nationalities and all genders, all age can participate in the competition.

Art. 6 SELECTION
Of the participating artists, seven projects will be selected by a jury consisting of experts and representatives of the artistic and cultural world.
Each selected artist must submit the digital sketch by the date established in Article 4.
The jury will select the participants in the symposium on the basis of the project, considering the creative idea, its feasibility and its ability to fit into the territorial context of Sordevolo and Biella.
Value will also be attached to the curriculum vitae and documentation submitted.

Art. 7 JURY
The jury will consist of:
Maia Bertoldo, organizational secretariat
Carlotta Cernigliaro, general director
Victoria Chapman, gallery owner and international curator
Beatrice Palugan, president of Zero Gravità Association
Dina Pierallini, curator and contemporary sculpture 
Andrea Polidori, landscape botanist
Mikelle Standbridge, artist and cuartor
Paola Zorzi, artist and art critic
a representative of the Municipality of Sordevolo,
a representative of the Funding Body,
one of the representative of the sponsoring partners
The jury's decisions are final. The selected artists will be contacted to confirm their actual participation.

Art. 8 DESTINATION OF WORKS
The interventions carried out will remain at the Historic Villa as well as at dedicated places chosen by artists, subject to the process of natural biodegradation.

Art. 9 REFUND
Each artist will be paid a reimbursement of expenses in the form of board and lodging at the Dimora storica Villa Cernigliaro, via Clemente Vercellone 4 - Sordevolo (BI) - Italy for n. 10 days with full board.

Art. 10 ELABORATES
Material in graphic or photographic format for a possible public exhibition of the projects must be received, accompanied by high-resolution digital documentation for press reproductions. The material may be delivered directly or sent, postmarked, to the following address: Villa Cernigliaro Via Clemente Vercellone 4 13817 Sordevolo (BI) ITALY. Sculptures, drawings, publications, photographs, multimedia materials and other formats will not be returned to the participants and will remain the property of Zero gravità Association, unless otherwise agreements.

Art. 11 PUBLICATIONS
Maximum dissemination of the results of the selection will be ensured through websites and social media. Particular emphasis will be placed on the promotion and dissemination of the initiative through national and international media (sending press releases and attached material to the general and specialized press, websites and online magazines, television networks, etc.). The Zero Gravity Association, together with the promoters Municipality of Sordevolo, City of Biella, Province of Biella, Piedmont Region and its economic partners, will be responsible for the publication of a catalogue that will represent in the best possible way, the place from which the creative idea originated, the works then in progress, up to the final stage, the artists present with photographic accompaniment and with appropriate critical apparatus.

Art. 12 DOCUMENTATION
The documentation required for participation is as follows:
_ application form (attached to the call for applications)
_ biography and bio-line
_ ID card
_ project of the work (pdf A4 format with dimensions to scale with respect to the final proposal, specifying actual measurements)
_ sentence/title that can condense intent, meaning, value of the work
_ selection of 5 images of one's artistic activity accompanied by a caption (title, date, measurements, possible location, technique of execution) in pdf format.
_ printed documentation of artistic activity (catalogues, photographs, printed texts, critical texts, etc.) if any
_ recent photograph of the artist (suitable for publication)
These documents must be received by the dates indicated in Article 5.