From 7 October 2023 to 28 January 2024, Kunst Meran/o Arte will be presenting the solo exhibition entitled incontrare Christian Martinelli [Meet Christian Martinelli], curated by Ursula Schnitzer and Anna Zinelli, complemented by the section La possibilità d’azione di un lascito d’artista [The Possibility of Action of an Artist’s Legacy] curated by BAU – the Institute for Contemporary Arts and Ecology (Simone Mair and Lisa Mazza). 

A self-taught artist and photographer, Christian Martinelli filed reportages from all over the world (from Eastern Europe to South America and Haiti), devoting himself in parallel to a series of photographic projects that focused on the themes of travel, memory, vulnerability and the relationship between people and nature.

The retrospective proposes to “meet” Christian Martinelli – not only through an important selection of his works, but also through photographic instruments and objects that belonged to him and that he himself often constructed. Technical experimentation and the practical dimension in fact always accompanied his career, as can be seen in the video (2020) and photos (2021) of his Meran/o home, shown in the first part of the exhibition. The “Villa Dolores” was not only a place where Christian Martinelli lived and worked, but a genuine photographic atelier, a workshop and exhibition venue in constant transformation, and a focal point for meetings and exchanges that animated the cultural life of the city.