SMACH — Dolomite Public Art Biennale

SMACH 2025 — the theme of "cu"

The seventh edition of the Dolomite Public Art Biennale took place from July 12 to September 14, 2025, in Val Badia, centered in San Martino in Badia. The theme of the edition was "cu", the Ladin term for a whetstone—the stone used to sharpen a scythe—chosen as a metaphor for processes of transformation, craftsmanship, and technical evolution in dialogue with the ancient mountain culture.

From over 270 applications received from all over the world, the international jury—chaired by designer Stefan Sagmeister and composed of members including Zasha Colah, Jasmine Deporta, Emanuele Masi, and Peter Senoner—selected ten winning projects, plus an eleventh satellite work created in collaboration with Kronplatz-Plan de Corones and Lumen, the museum of mountain photography. Among the installations: Sway by Lola Giuffré in the Armentara meadows, Stone Age by Hama Lohrmann at Passo di Sant'Antonio, Slow by Theresa Hattinger at Prà de Pütia, and Hortus Pictus by Riccardo Buonafede at Plan de Corones.

The works, scattered throughout the Val Badia landscape, were freely visited on foot along the hiking trails, with the possibility of multi-day itineraries and overnight stays in mountain huts.

Selected works — SMACH 2025

• Sway — Lola Giuffré (Australia/Netherlands) · Armentara
• Stone Age — Hama Lohrmann (Germany) · Passo di Sant'Antonio
• Slow — Theresa Hattinger (Austria) · Prà de Pütia
• With Every Step — Hans de Backer (Belgium) · Pederü
• Entanglement — Alex Xiaotan Yang, Wentao Guo · Fanes
• Trace of Land — ELSE (Zhifei Xu, Zimo Zhang) · La Crusc
• Cu X — Luca Rossi (Italy) · Lech dla Lunch
• iCù — Atelier Simondi, Officina Fabre · Pares
• .arexport — Auricchio Coen Knopp · Medalghes
• Morph Module — Elias Jocher · Monte Muro
• Hortus Pictus — Riccardo Buonafede (Italy) · Plan de Corones (satellite work)

The installations were distributed in various locations in Val Badia and were reached on foot along the trails; the route could be tackled as a day hike or as a multi-day itinerary with an overnight stay in a mountain hut.