Business Finance Media Technology Policy Wealth Insights Interviews

Art Art Fairs Art Market Art Reviews Auctions Galleries Museums Interviews

Lifestyle Nightlife & Dining Style Travel Interviews

Power Lists Nightlife & Dining Art A.I. PR

About About Observer Advertise With Us Reprints

In Gherdëina, Curating a Biennale Around the Politics of the Garden

In conversation with Observer, curator Samuel Leuenberger reflects on how "(Future) Paradise Gardens" surfaces tensions hidden beneath the idea of paradise itself because "every garden requires some form of boundary, selection, cultivation or exclusion."

The names Val Gardena, Gröden, Gherdëina—which refer to an alpine valley in the Dolomites of South Tyrol, in the languages of Italian, German and Ladin, respectively—originate from the Latin word “gredine,” meaning “fence” or “fenced-in area.” The garden is thus a fitting inspiration for the 10th edition of the region’s eponymous biennale, which was founded by Doris Ghetta in 2008. Observer spoke with Samuel Leuenberger, curator of “(Future) Paradise Gardens,” about these spaces of care, coexistence and imagination, and some of the 28 contemporary artists participating in this anniversary edition.

Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

In your Introduction to “(Future) Paradise Gardens,” you refer to “the politics embedded in botanical ordering and cultivated space; the violence hidden within ideals of beauty, harmony and care.” Both clauses bring to mind the paintings of Evelyn Taocheng Wang, concurrently exhibiting at Museion in Bolzano. In Urtijëi (Ortisei), Taocheng Wang’s paintings are presented in conversation with Lydia Ourahmane (who also participated in Azad Raza’s “Plot” at Museion in 2023, and is presenting a solo exhibition at the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation in Venice, coinciding with the Venice Biennale), at Hotel Ladinia. Where did you encounter both artists’ works, and how have you placed them in relation in this space?

I have been following both artists’ work for some time, although I had not previously worked with Evelyn. Lydia, on the other hand, I have had the pleasure of collaborating with on several occasions since 2014. Her striking approach to the spaces we inhabit is profoundly moving. She invites us into experiences that may have already taken place, yet through the careful re-staging of a setting, she encourages us to see the history of a place or an object with fresh eyes.

This is precisely what happened when Lydia visited the abandoned Hotel Ladinia. She was immediately drawn to the lobby and bar as sites of encounter. After interviewing and speaking with former staff members and guests, she felt compelled to create a scenario in which visitors are invited to gather, use the tables provided—some equipped with chess boards—and engage with one another.

Evelyn’s exhibition at Museion was both serene and humorous in its observations of multicultural identities and the movement between Chinese and Western traditions. Her Frog Princess series of paintings offered a perfect meta-commentary on everyday situations, depicting hipsters, tourists and other travelers with wit and sensitivity. It therefore felt like a natural conceptual pairing for the two artists to share the same space.

Alongside the importance of collaborations with local institutions, at the opening of the biennale, you acknowledged the “groundwork” of its previous curators. In his review of the 2024 edition, writer Will Jennings remarked on the deliberate decision by its curator, Lorenzo Giusti, to consider the region’s ancient cultural and natural connections with Southwest Asia and North Africa (visualized in, for instance, the geometric murals of Nassim Azarzar). Indeed, the ancient Achaemenid Persian concept of the paradise garden—a walled, square enclosure, divided into four symmetrical parts—was much later reproduced in early modern botanic gardens, representing both the start of scientific botany in Europe and long histories of cultivation. Could you talk about this edition’s particular and ongoing exchange with Lithuania?

The exchange between Biennale Gherdëina and Lithuania emerged from a shared desire to foster meaningful international dialogue and long-term cultural exchange. Creating connections with artists, institutions and cultural partners beyond Italy has always been central to the biennale’s mission, and Lithuania became a particularly inspiring counterpart.

The collaboration began with an invitation for Biennale Gherdëina to contribute to the 2025 Kaunas Biennial, presenting works from the previous edition curated by Lorenzo Giusti. At the same time, I was already in conversation with several Lithuanian artists, including Eglė Kulbokaitė & Dorota Gawęda, and Augustas Serapinas, whose practices resonated strongly with many of the themes we were exploring for this edition.

"Biennale Gherdëina 10: (Future) Paradise Gardens" Venue: Sites in Ortisei, S. Cristina and Pilat Dates: Through September 13, 2026 Curator: Samuel Leuenberger

Through a series of studio visits in Vilnius and Kaunas, the exchange deepened organically. In addition to these artists, I invited Andrius Arutiunian, whose work fascinates me through its playful yet profound engagement with sound, time, memory and the ways cultures intersect and influence one another. Together, these artists bring distinct perspectives while sharing a sensitivity to questions of landscape, history, mythology and collective experience.

The Lithuanian presence in this edition is therefore not the result of a thematic quota or national focus, but rather the outcome of genuine conversations, mutual curiosity and sustained engagement. It stands as an example of how cultural exchange can move beyond institutional partnerships and become a meaningful artistic dialogue. In a time when borders often dominate political discourse, collaborations such as these demonstrate how art can create spaces of connection, trust and shared imagination........

© Observer