Konzept / concetto Heimat

Granaio Nomi
Opening, 13.9.2024, 18.30 PM
13.9. – 25.10.2024

Art Installation at NOI TECHPARK Bozen 
7.9. – 25.10.2024

Leonhard Angerer, Walter Blaas, Italo Bressan, Susanne Burchia, Stefano Cagol, Hannes Egger, Ulrich Egger, Karolina Gacke, Werner Gasser, Elisabeth Hölzl, Elias Jocher, Wil-ma Kammerer, Kira Kessler, Angelo Demitri Morandini, Manuel Oberkalmsteiner, Elisabeth Oberrauch, Laura Pan, Lissy Pernthaler, Christian Piffrader, Leonora Prugger, Paula Prugger, Sylvie Riant, Ariel Trettel, Gustav Willeit, Andreas Zingerle

Curators:  Eleonora Klauser Soldá, Lisa Trockner
Co-Curators: Remo Forchini und Valentine Kostner

A Regional Exhibition Project on the Ambivalent Concept of Heimat
A Collaboration between the Heimatpflegeverband Südtirol, the Südtiroler Künstlerbund, and the Granaio di Nomi, Organized on the Occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the Heimatpflegeverband Südtirol.

Rooted in early childhood, Heimat accompanies individuals throughout their lives, shaping identities and entire families. It can be familiar or lost and serves as a utopian construct while simultaneously conveying an apparently real emotional state.

The German word Heimat is challenging to translate into Italian—or many other languages—and few concepts are as deeply infused with emotions while being equally nuanced. In a constantly changing world that erodes social bonds, the preservation of tradition and Heimat emerges as an alternative to the fast-paced digitalized modernity. On one hand, Heimat is experienced as an idyllic refuge that fosters self-reflection. On the other, history and current political realities reveal how this ideal can be weaponized, leading to exclusion, violence, and even war.

In fundamentally altered living conditions, the concept of Heimat continues to acquire new meanings. In the context of migration waves, Heimat becomes a complex interface, raising questions of belonging, cultural roots, and adaptability. People who leave their Heimat and live in new environments seek ways to define their identity in the conflict between past and present. This is further compounded by the influence of climate change, which brings both physical and emotional transformations. The spread of solastalgia—a sense of homesickness without having left home, caused by environmental changes in one’s immediate surroundings—is becoming more prevalent.

This extensive exhibition, spread across the venues of SKB ARTES, the outdoor area of NOI Techpark, and the Granaio di Nomi, brings together 25 regional artists to explore the concept of Heimat through various expressive media and thematic layers. They deconstruct the term and examine the dimensions that the complex and multi-layered idea of Heimat encompasses—cultural, geographical, social, political, and emotional—both in the present and in the future.

Foto: Andreas Heiler, Leonhard Angerer