Planning a holiday in the Dolomites? Then make time for SMACH!
The Land Art Biennale returns in summer 2025, once again bringing extraordinary art into the heart of nature. From July 12 to September 14, you can discover 11 unique installations in Val Badia/Puster Valley – each one set within a stunning landscape and only accessible on foot. This transforms every hike or mountain walk into a captivating encounter with contemporary art.
The central symbol of this year’s edition: the sharpening stone.
Known as cu in Ladin, this traditional tool has been used for centuries by those who work with scythes – such as the mountain farmers of the Dolomites. The participating artists have reinterpreted it as a symbol of precision, strength, and heritage.
SMACH 2025 thus creatively bridges past and present.
Whether it’s a short day hike or a multi-day trekking tour – you decide how deeply you immerse yourself in SMACH.
For the full experience, you can book a 4-day guided art hike with overnight stays in mountain huts through Holimites. No cars, no crowds – just you, the mountains, the art, and the moment.
A few highlights you shouldn’t miss – in addition to the installation at Kronplatz:
Medalghes – _._arexport by Carmine Auricchio, Jonathan Coen & Moritz Knopp (IT/DE)
Tamersc – With Every Step by Hans De Backer aka Drukdoenerij (BE)
Lago Lunch – CU X Mission by Luca Rossi (IT)
Armentara Meadows – Sway by Lola Giuffré (AU)
An international jury selected the 10 most outstanding projects from more than 270 submissions. Among the jurors are:
Zasha Colah, curator of the 2025 Berlin Biennale
Jasmine Deporta, artist based between Bolzano and Lausanne
Emanuele Masi, festival director in Rome
Peter Senoner, artist from South Tyrol
Stefan Sagmeister, world-renowned designer from New York
In addition to the main installations, 2025 will see the creation of a satellite project – a unique artistic highlight made possible through a collaboration with Kronplatz and the LUMEN Museum of Mountain Photography, set in an extraordinary location.
Some of the works may also become part of the Val dl’Ert sculpture park in San Martino in Badia – a 25-hectare open-air museum next to the Museum Ladin, open to the public year-round and free of charge.
Over four decades, naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522–1605) commissioned more than 8,000 illustrations of plants, animals, and fungi—now preserved in 18 volumes at the University Library of Bologna.
This installation of 33 flags was created by artist Riccardo Buonafede, inspired by Aldrovandi’s drawings. The flags depict species native to Val Badia, including arnica, gentians, orchids, mushrooms, butterflies, ants, and many more.
Once meant to classify and visualize nature, these illustrations are now reimagined as a tribute—not to nations, but to the one realm we all belong to: the natural world.