Langa Cruda – Ontology of Matter

An exhibition that tells the story of the Langhe soil

Langa Cruda – Ontology of Matter is a solo exhibition by Sara Melis, hosted at the Oratorio di Sant'Agostino e San Bonifacio in Piazza Antica Chiesa, Monforte d'Alba—one of the most picturesque villages in the Langhe, in the province of Cuneo, Piedmont. The exhibition is the first public presentation of the Terroir project, the result of months of research, and is held under the patronage of the Municipality and the Tourist Office of Monforte d'Alba.

Raw earth as living matter

At the heart of Sara Melis's work is raw earth, collected directly from its source and applied to the canvas without any painterly transformation. The material is not a pigment, but a sensitive body that allows itself to be shaped by time: the cracks, contractions, and stratifications that emerge on the surface are the true result of the physical process of drying. As the artist explains, "For me, shaping raw earth is the primary manifestation of the creative act of will." The work does not describe the landscape; it incorporates it. The form is not imposed, but negotiated between the artist's gesture and the behavior of the soil.

The Terroir project and the Langhe wineries

The core of the exhibition is the Terroir series, born from a collaboration with a group of wineries across La Morra, Dogliani, Barbaresco, and the Alta Langa, who were invited to set aside a small quantity of soil from their vineyards. The soil, once a productive resource, thus becomes an autonomous artistic language: each canvas preserves the memory of a specific terroir, acting as a living archive of a place. The research follows in the footsteps of the Arte Povera movement without merely citing it, turning the material into a process and a transformation in constant motion.

Sara Melis, artist of matter

Originally from the Monregalese area, Sara Melis (born 1978) is an artist and designer with a background in planning and eco-design from the Polytechnic University of Turin. Her practice intertwines sustainability, material, and process, making raw earth the heart of an essential and contemporary poetics.

An opportunity to discover Monforte d'Alba

Visiting Langa Cruda is also the perfect chance to explore Monforte d'Alba, a symbolic village of the Barolo Langhe, with its intimate historic center and open-air amphitheater. The exhibition, which offers free admission, engages in an ideal dialogue with the surrounding UNESCO World Heritage vineyard landscape.