Una Boccata d’Arte

Una Boccata d’Arte is an Italy-wide art project that brings contemporary art to small towns and historic villages. Every year, 20 artists are invited to create site-specific projects in 20 different places, one in each of Italy’s 20 regions. Each project is developed in direct dialogue with the place itself – its history, its people and the surrounding landscape.

The aim is to take contemporary art beyond museums and galleries and bring it into everyday life. Streets, squares, façades, vacant spaces and special local settings become exhibition spaces, creating new encounters between art, local communities and visitors.

In Klausen, Una Boccata d’Arte finds a particularly fitting setting: this artists’ town in the Eisack Valley brings together a long artistic tradition, a medieval old town and a lively public space. This is where the 2026 project begins.

Vogelrat. Il consiglio degli uccelli

For the 2026 edition, Klausen will host “Vogelrat. Il consiglio degli uccelli”, a project by artist Francesco Alberico. The project connects the community of Klausen with the Seeburg social and healthcare facility in Brixen, developing an artistic intervention in public space.

The process begins with local legends, personal stories and exercises in self-representation. Participants create imaginary bird figures: symbolic creatures that carry identity, wishes and personal narratives. These drawings are then transformed into textile works made from reused materials, created collectively in the workshops of the Seeburg facility.

When stories take flight

Installed along the alleys, the textile bird creatures enter into dialogue with the medieval lanes, historic façades and everyday life of the town – a place of passage, encounter, commerce and culture.

A temporary colony of imaginary creatures comes to life, bringing a poetic touch to Klausen. Those strolling through the old town encounter the works almost by chance: while wandering, pausing and looking more closely.

“Vogelrat. Il consiglio degli uccelli” is more than an exhibition. It is a shared process that brings together art, care, imagination and urban space. The works created through this project tell not only the stories of individuals, but also of Klausen as a place of encounter.