Conservare il futuro

Residence for artists curated by Chiara Bertola and Henry Meyric Huges in Bassano del Grappa

This beautiful 16th-18th century Palace once occupied a key position on the central axis unifying the main town of Bassano with the old Borghetto which was established X years ago, on the other side of the bridge connecting the two parts of the medieval settlement. Presumably, it once had a grand frontal entrance, flanked with the imposing, but  blackened and neglected statues that can still be seen in their original position and, like many a villa in the Veneto, was directly linked through the main entrance hall to the garden, the farm and the source of economic activity and wealth. Now it stands, semi-abandoned, functionless and isolated from the fabric of the historic centre of the city, which stops abruptly at the mountain end of the bridge, with its depiction of an Œalpino‚, and from the tourist and commercial economy of the city. It is regularly used, but only as a garage for ideas and activities that are necessarily ephemeral in nature. It awaits the full-scale restoration of the 16th century frescoes that are thought to adorn the interior, that might give back a certain touristic value to the building, but might equally well render it functionally useless. It also badly needs to be infused with a contemporary meaning and purpose that, through strategic planning of appropriate events and activities, would render it accessible to all the inhabitants of the town and immediate region, from all different social categories, as well as providing an attraction to tourists from further afield, at certain specific periods of the year, which might be made to coincide, or overlap, with the city‚s long-standing, successful initiatives in the fields of music and dance, but also gastronomy, handicraft, and so on.