2VITE Festival
Participatory art, design, and wine culture across Montefusco, Santa Paolina, and Torrioni
About 2VITE
Three Irpinian villages telling their story together
The 2VITE Festival is an event that brings together Montefusco, the lead municipality of the project, with the neighboring towns of Santa Paolina and Torrioni: three small centers in the province of Avellino, Campania, overlooking the hills where Greco di Tufo wine is born. Perched at over seven hundred meters and for centuries the capital of the Principato Ultra, Montefusco opens its most iconic landmarks—the Bourbon Prison, the Church of San Francesco, Palazzo Giordano, the Oratory of San Giacomo, and the Municipal Villa—transforming them for a few days into classrooms, galleries, and tasting rooms.
The 2 V.I.TE. project and PNRR funding
The festival is not an isolated event: it is the public showcase of the «2 V.I.TE.» project, dedicated to the strategic enhancement and cultural and social regeneration of the Montefusco area and its hamlets, funded under the PNRR «Attractiveness of the Villages» call promoted by the Ministry of Culture. Scientific coordination is provided by the University of Naples Federico II, with the Department of Architecture (DiARC), the L.U.P.T. research center, the ADART group, and CRISP, alongside the MAVV Wine Art Museum and local partners. The stated goal is to combat the depopulation of inland areas by networking craftsmanship, viticulture, landscape, and innovation.
Contemporary art and design at the Bourbon Prison
The heart of the event is the exhibition «2VITE – Constellation of Futures», set up in the rooms of the Bourbon Prison, the castle-prison that housed Risorgimento patriots in the 19th century and is now a national monument. Curated by Carla Langella and Adelina Picone, the exhibition features over twenty-five Irpinian artists, designers, and artisans who create a dialogue between ceramics, graphics, product design, and contemporary art, in a journey that interprets the territory as design material rather than a mere backdrop.
The pizzillo and the pizzillare
An entire chapter is dedicated to the pizzillo, the ancient bobbin lace handed down from generation to generation in Montefusco. Participatory workshops—such as «Legati a Te» (Bound to You), led by Rita Fischer with the advice of Emilia Dente—bring young people and artisans together, transforming threads, knots, and stories into a collective textile work. The «Trine di Memoria» (Laces of Memory) group preserves this tradition and brings it into the exhibition halls alongside contemporary design projects, ensuring that this know-how does not remain confined to memory.
The Greco di Tufo landscape
The second soul of the festival is oenological. Montefusco, Santa Paolina, and Torrioni fall within the Greco di Tufo DOCG area, one of the most distinctive white wines of Southern Italy. The program includes international living labs, panels with agricultural economists and food law scholars, guided tours of wineries, and tasting sessions with producers: wine is not just a product, but a key to interpreting the landscape and a lever for new forms of hospitality.
Academic research and international cooperation
Conferences and living labs bring Italian and foreign professors and researchers to the villages—from Federico II to the Federal University of Campina Grande in Brazil—together with the mayors of the three municipalities and representatives of the CNR. This is one of the most recognizable features of the 2VITE Festival: academic research leaves the classrooms to engage with those who inhabit the territory every day, producing publications, maps, and shared visions.
What atmosphere to expect
- An intimate and convivial dimension: you walk from a church to a historic palace, often accompanied by the organizers themselves.
- A mixed audience of residents, students, researchers, and design and wine enthusiasts.
- Highly participatory activities: workshops open to everyone, not just audiences of spectators.
- Evenings with live music, screenings, and tastings in courtyards and municipal villas.
- Panoramas of the Irpinian hills that alone are worth the climb to Montefusco.
2VITE — edition 2026
Two days of workshops, conferences, and exhibitions
The 2026 2VITE Festival concentrated in Montefusco, in the province of Avellino, the results of the research path conducted together with Santa Paolina and Torrioni. On Saturday, June 13, the Church of San Francesco hosted the participatory textile workshop followed by the international conference, while in the evening the Bourbon Prison opened to the public with the exhibition «2VITE – Constellation of Futures», curated by Carla Langella and Adelina Picone.
On Sunday, June 14, the day was dedicated to the International Living Lab on the Greco di Tufo landscape, with the presentation of the final volume of the 2 V.I.TE. project, speeches by the mayors of the three municipalities, and contributions from university researchers and the CNR. The finale, at the Oratory of San Giacomo, was entrusted to local wineries with a tasting session open to the public and professionals.
The project had its official coda at the end of July 2026, with the finissage of the exhibition and the closing evening at Palazzo Giordano.
Programme 2VITE 2026
Saturday, June 13, 2026 — Montefusco
- 9:30 AM, Church of San Francesco — «Legati a Te», participatory art workshop curated by Rita Fischer (ADART-DiARC, University of Naples Federico II) with historical advice from Emilia Dente: threads, knots, and stories for a collective textile work created together with the pizzillare of «Trine di Memoria».
- 4:00 PM, Church of San Francesco — International conference «2VITE – Constellation of Futures», introduced and moderated by Prof. Adelina Picone (Department of Architecture, Federico II), with speeches by Prof. Carla Langella (DiARC) and Prof. Antonio Roberto Miranda de Oliveira (Federal University of Campina Grande, Brazil) and conclusions by Prof. Alfonso Morone (DiARC).
- 6:30 PM, Bourbon Prison — Inauguration of the exhibition «2VITE – Constellation of Futures», curated by Carla Langella and Adelina Picone: over twenty-five Irpinian artists, designers, and artisans create a dialogue between traditional craftsmanship, product design, and contemporary art.
Sunday, June 14, 2026 — Montefusco
- 11:00 AM, Church of San Francesco — International Living Lab «The Greco di Tufo Landscape. Wine, community, and new forms of hospitality between Montefusco, Santa Paolina, and Torrioni», promoted by CRISP and MAVV Wine Art Museum: presentation of the final volume of the 2 V.I.TE. project, speeches on agricultural economics, food law, and the internationalization of wineries, with the mayors of the three municipalities and Angelo Basile (CNR).
- 1:00 PM, Oratory of San Giacomo — Tasting session with wineries from the Greco di Tufo area.
Project Coda — Tuesday, July 28, 2026, Montefusco
- 6:00 PM, Bourbon Prison — Finissage of the exhibition «2VITE – Constellation of Futures» with a meeting between artists and designers.
- 7:15 PM, historic center — «Trine di memoria: stories of pizzillo and passions».
- 8:15 PM, Palazzo Giordano — «Restoring the future. Balance and prospects of the project», with mayors, professors, and local representatives, and proclamation of the winning project for the new visual identity.
- 8:45 PM — Presentation of the «In Vino Veritas» award by MAVV.
- 9:00 PM, Palazzo Giordano courtyard — Convivial buffet.
- 9:30 PM, Municipal Villa — Final concert by the Virginia Sorrentino Quintet.
Highlights 2VITE 2026
- The exhibition «2VITE – Constellation of Futures» set up in the rooms of the Bourbon Prison, a national monument, featuring over twenty-five Irpinian artists, designers, and artisans.
- «Legati a Te»: the participatory art workshop that brings young people and pizzillare together around bobbin lace.
- The international conference with speakers from Federico II and the Federal University of Campina Grande (Brazil).
- The International Living Lab on the Greco di Tufo landscape and the presentation of the project's final volume.
- The tasting session at the Oratory of San Giacomo with wineries from the Greco di Tufo DOCG area.
Prices 2VITE 2026
Practical information — 2VITE
How to get there
By car: from the A16 Naples-Canosa motorway, take the Avellino Est or Grottaminarda exit, then continue on the SS 88 towards Benevento; Montefusco is about 20 km from Avellino and 25 km from Benevento. By train: Avellino or Benevento stations, then local bus lines or taxi. By plane: Naples-Capodichino airport, just over an hour's drive away.
Where it takes place
Events are distributed between the Bourbon Prison, the Church of San Francesco, Palazzo Giordano, the Oratory of San Giacomo, and the Municipal Villa of Montefusco, with stops in Santa Paolina (Cantina Bambinuto, Bobbin Lace Museum, Municipal Villa) and Torrioni.
Tickets
Local sources do not report paid tickets for conferences, workshops, and the exhibition. For tastings, winery visits, and excursions, it is advisable to check for any participation fees or the need to book by contacting the Municipality of Montefusco (tel. +39 0825 964003) or the Pro Loco of Montefusco.
Tips
Wear comfortable shoes: the village is uphill and largely cobbled. It is advisable to book accommodation in advance among the farmhouses and wineries of the Greco di Tufo area, and to combine your visit to the festival with a stop at the Bourbon Prison, a national monument, and a tour of the wineries in Santa Paolina and Torrioni.
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Where does it take place — 2VITE
Carcere Borbonico, Chiesa di San Francesco e centro storico di Montefusco