Petrit Halilaj will create a new work in the Langhe, in Dogliani, in a former school

Radis, the art in public space project promoted by the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, returns for its second edition. After the positive experience in Rittana, where Giulia Cenci created the work le masche, the initiative - again curated by Marta Papini in collaboration with the Fondazione CRC - lands in the territory of Dogliani (Cuneo), in the Borgata Valdibà. The protagonist of this new edition will be Kosovar visual artist Petrit Halilaj (Kostërrc, Kosovo, 1986).

Once again this year, the two foundations involved will strengthen the link between art and territory, concretely translating the idea of “diffuse heritage” that is at the heart of their mission: to make art accessible and part of everyone’s daily life.

In the period 2024-2027, Radis will continue to produce artistic interventions in public space, actively involving local communities, local authorities and associations. The works will be born in dialogue with the context, intertwining with stories and landscapes, with the intention of helping to build a collective imaginary capable of attracting a more conscious and sustainable tourism.

“Supporting a project like Radis means reaffirming with conviction our vision of culture as a common good, capable of taking root in territories and generating value for communities,” said Anna Maria Poggi, president of Fondazione CRT. “This second edition confirms and strengthens the shared commitment of Fondazione CRT, together with Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT and Fondazione CRC, in promoting contemporary art as a tool for participation, education and social cohesion. The work that will be created will be able to dialogue with the landscape and memory of a place as rich in history and beauty as Dogliani, becoming an integral part of it and contributing to renew its identity, in the present and in the future.”

“We are very happy to kick off the second edition of Radis, a project created with the aim of expanding the Fondazione’s outlook and operations on a regional scale, working in public spaces with local communities and leaving a legacy of artworks as a gift,” said Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, president of the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT. “Radis is a project that has many souls because it accompanies the production and presence of the work with educational activities dedicated to local schools and with moments of in-depth study aimed at different types of audiences. In order to accomplish all this, it is necessary to be able to recognize an attentive and sensitive community, capable of welcoming art with curiosity, as did the Mayor of Dogliani Claudio Raviola, Councillor Gianluca Navello and all the people who immediately showed full availability and to whom my first thanks go. I thank the CRC Foundation and its President Mauro Gola who for the second year responded positively to the proposal to work together for the production of this artistic heritage. Thanks to curator Marta Papini, her project team, and artist Petrit Halilaj for accepting this new challenge with immediate commitment. Finally, thank you to Fondazione CRT and President Anna Maria Poggi for unreservedly sharing the goals of the project.”

The project takes its name from the Piedmontese term radis, meaning “root,” and aims to bring contemporary art closer to a wide audience by acting in unconventional contexts. Its activities range from the commission of permanent works to an educational program for schools, through public meetings and an exhibition featuring works from the collections of the two sponsoring foundations.

Also in this edition, the selected artist will create asite-specific work that will remain the property of the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, but will be granted on loan for permanent use to the Municipality of Dogliani. The inauguration of the work is scheduled for October 2025, accompanied by a group exhibition with works from the two foundations, curated by Marta Papini together with Leonardo Pietropaolo.

“After the first edition, which involved a mountainous territory, we are particularly happy to continue our collaboration with Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT in 2025,” said Mauro Gola, president of Fondazione CRC. “The Radis project offers an important opportunity to activate our communities through a shared and participatory public art journey. The modality chosen for this new intervention-which aims to regenerate an abandoned space, which will come back to life through the gaze and sensitivity of the artist and the participation of the community-is already at the center of several initiatives promoted by Fondazione CRC: we are confident that, also due to the geographical location of the chosen site, at the gates of the UNESCO area, this new edition will be able to follow up on the success of Radis and contribute to the enhancement of the provincial territory.”

“It is with great pride that the Municipality of Dogliani welcomes the second edition of Radis, a project that combines and brings into dialogue the energy of contemporary art and the identity of the territories and communities that inhabit them,” commented Claudio Raviola, mayor of Dogliani. “The choice of the old country school in Borgata Valdibà as a venue for artistic intervention represents a unique opportunity for us. It is a place strongly linked to collective memory, which stands in a landscape context of rare beauty; the artistic intervention will allow to give a new visibility and tourist usability to a significant area of our territory. The site is located along the road that connects Dogliani and Monforte; the installation will represent one more reason to travel along it, inserting itself among the many proposals of a sustainable tourism, which prefers the slower times of walking or cycling. Times that allow to observe and fully experience the landscape, in a dimension of total contact with nature.”

Petrit Halilaj will intervene with a work designed for the Borgata Valdibà, a scenic spot in the heart of the Langhe between Dogliani and Monforte d’Alba, frequented from spring to autumn by cyclists and hikers. This spot is home to a disused building that once housed the village school, next to the Church of San Bartolomeo. Here, the artist will create a work belonging to the Abetare series, inspired by drawings engraved on school desks.

The Abetare cycle, started in 2015, originates from the archiving of engravings found on the desks of the former school in Runik, Halilaj’s hometown. From this material, the artist has drawn over ten years an archive that fuels the creation of steel or bronze sculptures: monumental forms that mix childhood imagery from different eras and places, fusing them into a shared visual language.

For Radis, Halilaj will collect and merge drawings on school desks in Dogliani with those from his personal archive. The final work, which will occupy the space left by the former school, will be a kind of house without walls, inhabited by fantastic figures born from theimagination of children from the Langhe and the Balkans. A monument to the creative power of dreams and imagination as a universal language.

“When I saw the old school on top of the hill in Borgata Valdibà, I immediately thought of Petrit Halilaj and his sculptures, made from drawings etched on school desks,” said Marta Papini. “I invited the artist to imagine a work that would replace the building and that, celebrating the imagination and freedom that lived for years within those now ruined walls, would suggest a new future for the history of the place.”

“In place of the old school in Borgata Valdibà, I propose a house of fantasy, decorated with doodles and daydreams from both the students of Dogliani and little girls and boys from all over the Balkans; a towering reverie floating freely across geographical and political boundaries,” the artist explained.

For info: www.radis-crt.it

Petrit Halilaj will create a new work in the Langhe, in Dogliani, in a former school

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.