Artimmersion

Artimmersion: art born from the landscape

In San Giacomo (St. Jakob), a quiet village in the municipality of Laives/Leifers in the province of Bolzano, summer brings with it an event that has become a local institution: Artimmersion, the international artists' colony conceived and curated by the cultural association Holos – Accademia Dialetti Visivi. Now in its eighteenth year in 2026, the event is part of the extensive LaivEstate/LeiferSommer summer program, which brings music, culture, sports, and traditions to Laives, San Giacomo, Pineta, and La Costa between June and September.

An artists' colony en plein air

The heart of Artimmersion is simple and captivating: a group of artists from different countries gathers for a few days to work en plein air, interpreting the Oltradige landscape live. Orchards, vineyards, the sunny slopes above the Adige Valley, and the countryside surrounding San Giacomo become both the subject and an open-air studio. The concept, which the association summarizes as artistic nomadism, focuses on direct immersion in the location—hence the name, "Art immersion".

In past editions, the colony has brought together a dozen or more invited painters who, over the course of one or two days, created their works on-site, between the mountain locality of La Costa and the spaces of San Giacomo. The results of this collective effort are then presented to the public in a final exhibition held in the municipal exhibition spaces of Laives.

A project rooted in Laives

Artimmersion was born from the desire to foster a dialogue between contemporary art and a linguistically and culturally diverse territory like South Tyrol, where the bilingual Italian-German tradition coexists with an open perspective on Europe. The Holos association, which has enlivened the Laives art scene for years, has turned this colony into a meeting point for creativity, community, and landscape. The event also relies on the local cultural network, which finds a reference point in San Giacomo at the Centro Culturale S. Giacomo.

2026 Edition

In 2026, Artimmersion returns to San Giacomo in August, as confirmed by the official LaivEstate/LeiferSommer program presented by the Municipality of Laives. At the moment, the exact dates and the detailed program for this edition have not yet been released; they will be announced by the organizers in the weeks leading up to the event.