Phone: +39 015 0991868 | Email: info@palazzogromolosa.it | Corso del Piazzo 22/24, 13900 Biella (BI), Italia
Selvatica – Art and Nature in Festival 10th edition
From April 20th to July 21st 2024 nature returns to the Biella Piazzo Cultural Center with the tenth edition of Selvatica - Art and Nature in Festival.
The historic setting of Biella Piazzo dresses up to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the biennial event organized by Palazzo Gromo Losa Srl and conceived by E20Progetti and the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Biella. The event is entirely dedicated to nature and the environment which brings together artists, photographers , creatives and researchers in a set of proposals that combine exhibitions of painting, photography, sculpture, educational workshops and collateral events with a single aim: the preservation and protection of the environment.
The exhibitions are curated by Lorenza Salamon for the artistic part and by Fabrizio Lava for the photographic part.
This edition of Selvatica opens to the East with an exceptional exhibition of the two Japanese master engravers Hokusai and Hiroshige.
The rooms of Palazzo Gromo Losa will host over forty woodcuts with an ornithological and botanical theme from the “Edoardo Chiossone” Museum of Oriental Art in Genoa, one of the major Italian public collections of oriental art, and from the Civic Museum of the Capuchins of Bagnacavallo (Ravenna).
The exhibition develops as a tale of the four seasons and allows us to fully understand the "floating world" of two Masters who were able to interpret nature, animals, flowers and landscapes through the suggestion of new lines and colours.
A language whose interpretative strength influenced Western taste, especially the Impressionists.
Among the scheduled exhibitions is also Motus by Gianni Lucchesi, which ranked first in the Be Natural/Be Wild competition promoted by the Cassa di Risparmio di Biella Foundation on the occasion of Selvatica 2022. Together with the contribution of the architect Julia Caracciolo, Lucchesi has built a path studied and conceived for the frescoed and majestic spaces of Palazzo Ferrero.
It is an evocative exhibition, which through large paintings made with bitumen and mixed techniques and sculptures in iron and bronze, allows us to meditate on the great themes that in recent years have been at the forefront of Western culture, such as environmental sustainability.
For the first time at the Festival, Skua Nature will be present, a leading group in supporting nature photography, which, through the management of numerous nature reserves, plans develops and activates actions dedicated to conservation and studies on biodiversity, taking advantage of funds from activities related to nature tourism, in collaboration with public or private organizations from all over the world.
On display at Palazzo Gromo Losa there are over forty photographs by Iago Corazza and the Skua Nature staff, taken during the nature and anthropological photography workshops promoted in Romania, Norway and Spain.
Photography will also be the protagonist at Palazzo Ferrero with Glanzlichter, the most important nature competition in Germany, in which thousands of photographers participate every year; a journey around the world through a unique selection of magnificent images, from landscapes to animals in nature.
At Palazzo Gromo Losa you will also find the scientific exhibition Warrior Plants - Journey among plants that believe they are animals, curated by Raffaella Fiore and Francesco Tomasinelli, in collaboration with the Città Studi Botanical Garden of Milan, University of Milan.
The protagonists of this exhibition are plants that do everything you wouldn't expect from a vegetable. They are warriors because they are able to attack and eat animals like carnivores do. They manage to move in completely unexpected ways, with seeds similar to gliders and helicopters and thanks to hooks that stick into mammals.
The exhibition presents live some of the most surprising plants in the plant world, whose characteristics are also illustrated by large photographic panels and videos, which reveal the lesser-known aspects of the protagonists of the exhibition. Furthermore, the exhibition also uses some live insects, which have a very close relationship with plants.
Finally, as in the last editions, Spazio Cultura of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Biella will host the exhibitions with the finalist works of the two competitions linked to Selvatica.
From April 20th to June 2nd it will be the turn of Be Natural/Be Wild, an artistic competition organized by the Cassa di Risparmio di Biella Foundation to give space to art that speaks of Nature, now in its fourth edition.
To follow, from 8 June to 21 July, it will be the turn of the Nord Ovest Naturae Photo Contest, now in its sixth edition, a national photographic competition organized by E20Progetti, WWF Piedmont Oasis and Protected Areas and the Stilelibero Association with the support of Banca Sella, which will reward the best images taken in the territories of Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria and Valle d'Aosta.
Biella, Palazzo Gromo Losa (Corso del Piazzo 22/24) and Palazzo Ferrero (Corso del Piazzo 29)
Saturday and Sunday 10.00am-7.00pm
April 25-26th, May 1st and June 2nd from 10.00am to 7.00pm
Unique ticket office at Palazzo Gromo Losa
Full price: €10.00 / Reduced price: €8.00 / Reduced price for schools: €3.00*
*Free for students of schools in the Province of Biella
Reduced ticket: under 25, over 65, groups of at least 12 people, university students with ID, FAI Members, Amici di Castelli Aperti, Plein Air Members, CartaEffe Feltrinelli, AIGO Card and AIGO Members, CAI Members, Candelo in Fiore ticket, Members Nova Coop, UPBEduca members, WWF members, ticket to the Botanical Garden of Oropa, concert ticket/subscription to the Perosi Academy Foundation
Free ticket: under 6 years of age, disabled people + 1 companion, teachers if accompanying a class, Piedmont Valle d'Aosta Museum Subscription, Banca di Asti Museum Voucher, licensed journalists, licensed tourist guides
Educational visits and workshops for schools
Info and reservations until sold out:
015 2523058 / 370 3432114 / coop.clorofilla@gmail.com
For further information and check the complete schedule of events related to Selvatica visit the website www.selvaticafestival.net
Biella is located roughly halfway between Turin and Milan.
If you arrive by car: Once you have reached the center, we recommend that you go upwards to the village of Piazzo with the suggestive Funicular (you can take it in Piazza Curiel and it is free - current schedule 7.30-22.00). Once you have gone up to the Piazzo go left, cross Piazza Cisterna and continue for about 5 minutes on foot to Palazzo Gromo Losa, which you will find on your right. Alternatively you can drive up directly to the Piazzo. From February 12 until July 27 the "Piazzo Parking" is closed for environmental redevelopment work.
If you arrive by train: From the Biella San Paolo station, take the bus (lines 360 and 900) and get off in Piazza Curiel, then go up to the village of Piazzo with the Funicular (free - current schedule 7.30-22.00). Once you have gone up to the Piazzo go left, cross Piazza Cisterna and continue for about 5 minutes on foot to Palazzo Gromo Losa, which you will find on your right.
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