Event Brief

The Biennale Gherdëina 2026 is an event that brings together art and architecture across disciplines and takes place in the Dolomites of northern Italy. Set in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Val Gardena, the biennial offers a variety of site-specific exhibitions, cultural activities, and public interactions that all highlight the themes of art and environment in connection with the Alpine scenery. Rather than a competitive design competition, it is a cultural festival and exhibition that merges art and landscape, architecture being the third party of the scenario.

Intent

With the biennale, the cultural, historical, and environmental richness of Val Gardena is to be activated through the powerful tool of art. New works will be commissioned, and exhibitions and programs that respond to the unique natural and cultural context of Val Gardena will be presented.

Purpose

Thus, Biennale Gherdëina aims to provoke thought around the relations between the contemporary artistic practices and landscape. The 10th edition named (Future) Paradise Gardens prompts the visitors to explore, within a mountainous setting, the symbolic and ecological dimensions of gardens as places of survival, care, and collective hope.

Requirements

The biennale is a platform for artists and practitioners mostly through the curatorial involvement of invited ones and not through open submission or juried competition. It does not include any structure for competitive design entry.

Jury

There’s no jury involved; the event relies on curatorial selection and site-responsive programming rather than competitive evaluation.

Fees

There are currently no publicly confirmed standard admission fees.

Rewards

This biennial exhibition does not provide any competitive awards or prizes.

Dates

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

Biennale Gherdëina 2026 is an event scheduled as a non-competitive exhibition; thus, no jury will evaluate the works submitted. This exhibits Volgard as an established curatorial body, which will still operate in the cultural context of Val Gardena, with open and transparent information on its thematic framework and invited participants. An interdisciplinary event of art and architecture, Gherdëina promotes the idea of a curatorial and research-driven platform rather than a professional or academic assessment mechanism. It will not award any prizes or formal rewards and will only host invited practitioners, thereby limiting its relevance mainly to discourse and exhibitions rather than being a port of entry for emerging designers. Its value in the architectural aspect has to do with the conceptual exploration of landscape, ecology, and spatial narratives rather than the practical design evaluation process or professional accreditation.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

The Biennale Gherdëina 2026 can be seen as a long-term art and architecture exhibition that is held in a culturally and ecologically distinctive landscape. In this case, its main attraction is not the competition, but the curatorial exploration, environmental dialogue, and public participation, which are the primary activities of the event. The biennial’s programme favors a site-specific interpretation, cultural context, and interdisciplinary exchange and thus provides a space for reflection and artistic practices without the need for competitive adjudication or standardized fees.

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