While awaiting the Magical Christmas Village, everything is ready in Govone to embrace the autumn season within the walls of the Royal Castle. Nothing is missing: the rustling of dry leaves, warm colors, dramatic skies, and a lot of wonder thanks to contemporary art.
It all begins on Sunday, September 24th with the inauguration of the 9th edition of Art Site Fest titled “Everything hangs together” featuring:
- 5:00 PM: Bahar Heydarzade – AVA – site-specific intervention in the Park of the Royal Castle of Govone.
- 5:30 PM: Eleni Molos and Bahar Heydarzade – “La lingua degli uccelli” (The Language of Birds) – reading in the Park of the Royal Castle of Govone.
- 6:30 PM: Giulia Nelli – “Riverbero di luce. All’ombra del silenzio” (Reverberation of Light. In the Shadow of Silence) – site-specific intervention in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Piazza San Secondo, Govone.
The evening will conclude with a toast accompanied by musical performances by Cantina Bric Sorì and Cantina Ceste.
Art Site Fest is a festival dedicated to visual arts, storytelling, and new forms of expression, exploring contemporary languages in dialogue with historical and cultural locations. A dense calendar of performances, encounters, and exhibitions, spread across various venues in Turin, Govone, and Alessandria from September 19th to December 18th, 2023, offers a captivating multidisciplinary journey, featuring site-specific art installations, encounters, readings, and performances in historical residences, museums, green spaces, and churches.
The theme for 2023 is the environment, climate change, and the very essence of creating art in a world that demands new and more effective ways of interpretation.
For many years, the Royal Castle of Govone and its historic center have been an essential stop on the Art Site Fest journey. In line with this year’s theme, the festival focuses on outdoor areas and the Church of the Holy Spirit. In the park, among the trees and pathways surrounding the castle hill, Iranian artist Bahar Heydarzade suggests a path highlighting tree roots through gold leaf and dye, simultaneously inviting viewers to lift their gaze to the branches, traversing them with colorful lines of connection and dialogue.
The significance of Heydarzade’s intervention lies in the need to forge a deeper connection between nature and culture, seeking within the roots of our existence, and all living beings, a precious resource that is often overlooked.
The site-specific intervention’s inauguration is accompanied by a reading of excerpts from “Il verbo degli uccelli” (The Language of Birds) by Farid al-Din ‘Attar, a Sufi mystical poem. The text envisions the gathering of all birds in search of the hidden truth behind the world’s phenomena. Eleni Molos reads in Italian, while Bahar Heydarzade reads in Persian.
“For some time now, the Church of the Holy Spirit has represented a new tourist attraction in the historic center of Govone,” says Luca Malvicino, Director of the Castle of Govone. “Our commitment is to extend the appeal of the Royal Castle of Govone, part of the Circuit of the Savoy Royal Residences, to the entire urban context, the park, churches, and squares, emphasizing the complex interaction between the palace and its surroundings.”
The festival program in Govone continues with a site-specific installation by Giulia Nelli at the Church of the Holy Spirit. The extraordinary Baroque setting interacts with the artist’s natural and artificial fiber architectures, inviting the audience to experience a suspended dimension.
“The need for a greater respect for nature requires a different approach,” says Domenico Maria Papa, Artistic Director of Art Site Fest. “It cannot be merely a technical resolution of issues like climate change or resource depletion. We must build a different, more attentive and conscious culture. In this, art can be of assistance.”
The Artists:
- Bahar H(Tehran, 1981) is an artist of Iranian origin. She studied art in Iran, and she has been arrested multiple times for expressing her ideas and advocating for lost female identity. She left her country in 2006 and has been in Italy since 2013, where she attended the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts in Turin. Her work combines performative actions, photography, painting, and audiovisual installations.
- Eleni Molos, after studying and researching theoretical philosophy, joined Guido Ceronetti’s Teatro dei Sensibili (Theater of the Sensitive). She has participated in productions by the Teatro Stabile and TPE in Turin, Piccolo Teatro in Milan, and Teatro Franco Parenti. She also works regularly with Sergio Ferrentino and the Fonderia Mercury in Milan, where she presents original audio dramas for the theater. In addition to her theater work, she is involved in dubbing, collaborations with institutions like the Polo del 900 in Turin, the University of Turin, Radio24, and RSI (Radio Svizzera Italiana). She collaborates on writing philosophy manuals with Il Capitello – La Scuola SEI editions and works as a reader and actress for the Italo Calvino Prize. She also writes and produces podcasts (VOIS, Aboca Edizioni, Boiron) and educational shows on Anthropology and History (Marco Aime, Bruno Maida). She is the voice behind fiction and educational audiobooks.
- Giulia Nelli was born in 1992 in Legnano (Mi). Her research analyzes each person’s relationship with the natural and social environment, believing it is essential to rebuild the bonds made uncertain by new forms of communication, seeking new meaning in real life. She uses materials such as polyamide and elastane (materials used to make stockings) in her installations, as well as linen, wool, and natural fabrics. The use of textile materials allows her to emphasize the role of gesture and craftsmanship, connecting her directly with the material. Doing, undoing, knotting, and retying is the story and image of life, the skill that allows women from ancient mythologies to weave emotions, words, silences, stories, bonds, memories, and hopes for the future into a single fabric. Her works are found in important public and private collections. FuturArkestra is composed of Edoardo Cassaro (flutes, percussion, bass drum, vocals), Gabriele Artuso (double bass, flute, kazoo, and vocals), and Giulio Pedrana (guitar, lyre, melodica, and vocals).
The artworks will be free to view in the park and the Church of the Holy Spirit until November 6th. To discover all the other exciting initiatives of Art Site, visit the website https://artsitefest.it/ or contact info@artsitefest.it.
The program continues on Saturday, September 30th, with the opening of the exhibition by Beppe Gallo titled “Il canto della terra” (The Song of the Earth), organized in collaboration with the GOVONE ARTE commission of the Govone Residenza Sabauda Association, at the Alfieri Gallery at 5:00 PM.
Beppe Gallo was born in Castagnole delle Lanze (AT) on July 19, 1942. He studied at the Classical High School in Alba and exhibited his early works at the “A.Galeasso” Art Gallery. In 1964, he attended a course in advertising poster design in Rome; in the following years, he collaborated as a cartoonist with the weekly magazine “Famiglia Cristiana.” Starting in 1971, he consistently exhibited in private galleries and public spaces. From 1974 to 1980, he studied under Prof. Teonesto Deabate. He is a founding member of Piemonte Artistico e Culturale in Turin and served on its Board of Directors from 1992 to 1998. He is also a member of the Artistic Commission of the Società Promotrice delle Belle Arti in Turin and has been on its Board of Directors since 1993.
The exhibition can be visited during the usual opening hours of the castle, every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 AM to 12 PM and from 3 PM to 6 PM. Admission to the exhibition is included in the castle entrance ticket, which also covers the visit to the main floor.
For more information, visit the website https://www.castellorealedigovone.it/acquista-il-biglietto/
or write to info@castellorealedigovone.it.
