SMACH — Dolomite Public Art Biennale

Open-air contemporary art in the Dolomites

SMACH is the Dolomite Public Art Biennale, an international land art project that takes contemporary art out of museums and into the high altitudes, among the pastures, forests, and peaks of Val Badia. Founded in 2012 in San Martino in Badia (known as Al Plan de Mareo in Ladin), in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, Trentino-Alto Adige, the event is held biennially in odd-numbered years: following the 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023 editions, the seventh edition took place in the summer of 2025.

At the heart of the project is an international open call for artists from around the world. Each edition, a jury selects around ten projects, which are then realized as site-specific installations in locations of great scenic value throughout Val Badia. These works are not designed for galleries, but to coexist with the wind, snow, light, and the gaze of mountain hikers: they are discovered on foot, along the trails, as stops on a hiking route.

A dialogue with Ladin culture and the mountains

SMACH focuses on the relationship between art, nature, and Ladin identity. Each edition revolves around a theme rooted in the territory: in 2025, the guiding thread was "cu", the Ladin term for the whetstone used to sharpen scythes in mountain meadows—a metaphor for transformation, craftsmanship, and technical evolution. The installations thus weave together the languages of international contemporary art and the memory of the Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The permanent Val dl'Ert park

Not all works disappear at the end of the exhibition: the most significant pieces from previous editions have been acquired and gathered in the Val dl'Ert art park, a woodland area of approximately 25 hectares in San Martino in Badia, adjacent to the Museum Ladin Ciastel de Tor. The park hosts a permanent collection of sculptures and installations that are free to access all year round, allowing visitors to experience SMACH even outside the biennale years.

An experience on foot, immersed in the landscape

Visiting SMACH means walking: the works are scattered across various locations in Val Badia, from the Armentara meadows to the pastures of Fanes and Pütia, and can be reached via day hikes or multi-day itineraries with overnight stays in mountain huts. It is the perfect way to combine contemporary art, trekking, and the discovery of the Dolomites.