Event: Guided Tour + Talk with Antonio Rovaldi and Esther Kinsky

Saturday, June 8, at 11 a.m. at Foto Forum in Bolzano, as part of the exhibition Torno indietro un attimo by Antonio Rovaldi, curators Angelika Burstcher and Daniele Lupo, along with the artist and author Esther Kinsky, will present the book Morgen. Torno indietro un attimo which accompanies the exhibition, during a conversation about the geographies characterizing river contexts, particularly the Adige, the focus of the artist’s photographic research. Following the presentation, there will be a guided tour of the exhibition and an introduction to the public poster project that, starting from June 3, brings distant river imagery to Bolzano, derived from other photographic projects by Rovaldi.

Between summer and autumn 2023, Antonio Rovaldi traveled – on foot, by bike, by train – the entire course of the Adige river, creating a photographic and audio-video project that tells its current state through focusing on the transformations characterizing its landscape. The exhibition showcases the results of this journey as a series of photographs and slides, a sound installation, and a video.

Morgen. Torno indietro un attimo – Artist Talk with Antonio Rovaldi and Esther Kinsky, Foto Forum, Bolzano/Bozen (Italy), 2024, Photo by Jeva Griskjane

The book Morgen. Torno indietro un attimo, published by Quodlibet, completes the project by offering further interpretations of the river landscape and its complex transformation and stratification. Antonio Rovaldi’s images intersect with the words of author Esther Kinsky, one of the most authoritative voices in contemporary literature, a refined narrator of the physical and inner geography that imbues places (her book River, published in 2018, serves as inspiration for her involvement). An unprecedented dialogue unfolds between the two during a parallel exploration journey in which the artist involves the author.

The curators’ text and a dialogue with MUSE geologist Marco Avanzini on the history of the discovery of Jurassic-era dinosaur footprints in Rovereto provide a broader context for the project within a current debate that views river contexts and ecosystems as vital networks.

Morgen. Torno indietro un attimo – Artist Talk with Antonio Rovaldi and Esther Kinsky, Foto Forum, Bolzano/Bozen (Italy), 2024, Photo by Jeva Griskjane

Two steps forward and one step back, in syncopated rhythm, we follow the Adige along its entire course, from its source at the border between Italy and Austria to its mouth in the Adriatic Sea. The sequence of images and words enclosed here captures the fragmentation of the river in its geographical complexity.

The project Torno indietro un attimo is part of the broader multi-year and multidisciplinary program FLUX – River interventions and explorations, conceived and developed by Lungomare since 2022, where the river landscapes of Bolzano – and beyond – are observed and activated from different perspectives together with local and international artists, architects, and researchers.

The project Torno indietro un attimo is supported by Strategia Fotografia 2023, promoted by the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture.

Co-financed by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol and the Municipality of Bolzano, the project is produced by Foto Forum and Lungomare, and realized in collaboration with THE NEW INSTITUTE Centre for Environmental Humanities (NICHE), Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, and Grenze-Arsenali Fotografici, Verona. The photographic series will become part of the collection of Museion – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Bolzano.

Foto Forum, Bolzano/Bozen (Italy)