International Ahrntal Woodcarving Symposium

An open-air studio in the heart of the Ahrntal Valley

The International Ahrntal Woodcarving Symposium (Internationales Ahrntaler Holzbildhauer-Symposium) is one of the most distinctive cultural highlights of the summer in the Ahrntal Valley, located in the municipality of Ahrntal, in the Province of Bolzano and the Trentino-Alto Adige region. For a few days, the center of a local village becomes a large open-air studio where ten sculptors from around the world shape wood before the eyes of residents and tourists.

How the symposium works

Each artist receives a raw larch log, up to 2.2 meters long and 60 centimeters in diameter. Using chisels and mallets, they have about four and a half days to create a piece inspired by a common theme, decided each year. The public can follow the entire creative process up close, from the freshly debarked log to the finished sculpture, breathing in the scent of fresh wood and observing the effort and precision of the manual work.

On the final day, a jury and the artists themselves evaluate the results, while spectators are invited to vote for their favorite piece. Many of the sculptures created in the various editions remain in the valley to enrich the local artistic heritage, including the sculpture park in Lutago/Luttach.

A tradition rooted in the Ahrntal

Woodcarving has a centuries-old tradition in the Ahrntal Valley: the crafting of larch and spruce has accompanied the lives of mountain communities for generations. The symposium, established in 2010, revives this legacy and places it in dialogue with international contemporary sculpture, bringing different artistic languages and sensibilities to the stone houses and mountain farms of the valley every year.

An international and free event

The event is organized by the Ahrntal Tourist Board (Tourismusverein Ahrntal) and is free to attend. Its international character, with sculptors arriving from multiple continents, and the alpine setting of the upper Ahrntal Valley make the symposium a unique opportunity to combine a walk through the mountains of South Tyrol with the discovery of live wood art.