Advent in Venaus

The project saw the community and the students of the Academy of Turin, selected by Prof. Maria Teresa Roberto, working together on a common project.

The artists shared their knowledge and skills about the use of materials and artistic techniques with the population, with particular attention to the realization of the human figure, hands, and faces. Together with the community, they assessed the best techniques for creating nativity scenes.

In parallel with the path taken with the inhabitants, the artists translated their collective reflections into a work, gifting the village a contemporary version of the Nativity.

Together, the artists involved - Daniele Accossato, Alessandro Montone, Federico Nota, Ciro Rispoli, Marta Valsania, with the organizational support of Stefania Crobe for SusaCulture – have created their collective work: a luminous installation in the border space between the public road and the Venaus hydroelectric power plant.

The installation consists of a structure of white ribbons stretched to converge from the public road towards the inside of the power plant space. The illuminated structure creates a luminous cone that appears to originate from the plant and spread outward.

The beam of light is intended to be a dual parallel with the advent and the message of Christ. The birth of Christ is traditionally the birth of light, coming into the world to save man from the shadow of sin. But the light is also and above all the light of the divine message which, originating from the figure of Christ, spreads to all humanity.

The sense of light as a bearer of a message, in addition to being emotionally suggested by the ribbon beam, is specified through the use of Morse Code, a universally comprehensible language, a system of spaces, lines, and dots. The phrase reported in the work is a quote from the first telegraphed message in history: “What hath God wrought!” which translates to “What has God done”.