Museion, a museum of modern and contemporary art in Bolzano, pays homage to the artist Adolf Vallazza, born in Ortisei, on the occasion of his 100th birthday. The exhibition dedicated to him and set up at Museion Passage is created in collaboration with the Adolf Vallazza Archive and brings together a selection of drawings ranging from the 1960s to today, together with ten large abstract wooden sculptures presented for the first time together in same museum space.

The exhibition, consisting mainly of the most abstract wooden sculptures created by the artist – totems, menhirs and bird sculptures, some from the Museion collection – also offers the opportunity to introduce Vallazza's graphic work to the general public, from the 60 to date. The act of drawing has always accompanied and continues to accompany his activity as a sculptor. The drawings and sketches, presented on the wall and in a showcase, present different formats and techniques, but all testify to the formal research and the spatial and symbolic relationships of his productions.

For Adolf Vallazza, sculpture has a changing meaning: it is an aesthetic composition, a throne or a mythical totem, or a prop in a dance performance. A sculpture is therefore a layered surface, inscribed with meanings and functions that go beyond a specific period or meaning – a way to make it timeless and let time itself interact with it, as well as those who observe it.

Vallazza began his career as a painter, then moved towards sculpture in the 1960s, using wood from ancient barns in Val Gardena to transform the ephemeral into the eternal and thus give life to his impressive sculptures.