The charm of the historic centre of Chiavenna is the perfect stimulus for many artists who choose places with a past life to open their studio workshops and galleries to the public.
 

In recent years the ancient centre of the town has begun to be noted for a rather particular trend. A number of artists have chosen the mansions amongst the traffic-free streets to create exhibition spaces and personal expositions. A spontaneous cultural effervescence, which - in tiny steps - can contribute to express Chiavenna&´s historic artistic and artisan vocation that once upon a time made it famous. The hope is that these first tentative signs will find "fertile ground" and prompt further artists to join them in Chiavenna, and transform the historic centre into an open-air museum. We talked to some of the artists who today open their doors to the public, to get to know their projects and motivation. Here&´s what they told us:

 

Back in the &´70&´s he was the first to open a studio in Chiavenna. They were the times of the avant -garde, of experimentation, of Art as a pretext for debate and analysis. After a couple of changes of location, around 30 years ago Bruno turned up in the Molinanca. Here he was to open his workshop and gallery where he meets other artists and visitors. "I consider an artist&´s studio to be the nerve centre of his existence" he explains "It should be an interesting place to drop into, perhaps even more than an exhibition in a gallery. It&´s in the studio that you can better penetrate the personality of the artist as a genuine expression of his complexity and the superimposition of creative times".

 

"Whether you are an outsider or a native, it doesn&´t matter: when you find yourself in a place full of narratives it&´s inevitable that you&´ll get involved". Pamela Napoletano, multifaceted artist originating in Monopoli and now transplanted to Chiavenna for some years and who introduces us to her studio in the via Della Molinanca. "I think of the places where day to day life was heartfelt and where people would repeat simple gestures, always linked to their home and family each and every day. To counterbalance this "monotone" of serial formality there was something rather precious, profound even  that I could breathe in within the Molinanca. When, in 2017 I was working on the renovation of the place that would become my studio, several elderly people stopped and regarded me with curiosity. In their words, as in their eyes, there was the memory of a feeling from the distant past, an emotion shared or experienced in a personal intimacy, within the constraints of the culture of the time. This is how my studio under the colonnade of the Molinanca came to fruition, in a genuine passage of shared memory and this is why I take my responsibilities to the place very seriously. My vision? Conceiving the space in the Molinanca as a "free zone", a bubble that can distract from the weight of everyday life, a place in which to rediscover the simplicity of a word or an opportunity to observe the capacity of someone expressing themselves and communicating".

 

SEMI - the name of her artistic space - is not just an ancient place, within a historic building, at number 101 of the upper via Dolzino in Chiavenna. It&´s a special point of reference, half workshop, half exhibition gallery, which reflects the introspective soul of its creator and curator, Silvia Del Grosso. "It&´s a base, the workplace that I have always imagined. A space open to enlightened cooperation and constructive dialogue where I can host people who seek, desire, create, engage. In Silvia&´s vision, there&´s a desire to carve out an opening in which to promote relationships and contacts between artists animated by the will to bank on creation and not on production. "SEMI is a place of exchanges" she continues "where even the visitor can, should he so wish, leave his own mark, responding himself to an encounter with the Other".

 

Rolf arrived in Chiavenna from afar. He was born in Duisburg, studied in Belgium, trained in Berlin and then settled in Switzerland and for a brief period in Romania. Pediatrician and artist, in the early years of this century he took up residence in no. 99 of upper via Dolzino where he created an exhibition space that periodically opens to the public to present his work, often combined with those of other artists. Today he lives and works in Switzerland and can spend only limited time in Chiavenna. This summer. for example he promoted an exhibition in the large room on the ground floor entitled "Vicini" in collaboration with his "neighbour" Silvia Del Grosso. Rolf has a lengthy artistic career to his credit, which is clearly affected by multiple contagions and influences, the product of his many varied experiences during the course of his life.

 

At no. 34 of the via Dolzino, once through the ancient portal and within the courtyard, you&´ll find the studio of Biagio Longo. "The studio is a necessity" he explains. "I was in via Molinanca for some considerable time, overlooking the Mera, a place of inspiration accompanied by the music of the river. Then a few years ago I moved to the via Dolzino in this charming courtyard. The studio is within a small house of the late 16th century, a likely contingent of the Pestalozzi family. It&´s a workshop which represented a new start for me; in one part there&´s the studio itself and in another is a living space where I can entertain friends, share a glass of wine or tackle a signature dish. Here I can express my creativity in all its many aspects, as well as exchange design ideas with anyone who shares my love for the arts, culture and beauty".