TRENTO - A new show in the Dolomites highlights the beauty of the mountain range bidding for world heritage status.
The 'Dolomites' show at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Cavalese, in the province of Trento, presents a wealth of material to explain their peculiar beauty. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which backed Italy's UNESCO bis in May, cited the mountains' ''intrinsic beauty deriving from the variety of spectacular vertical forms'' contrasting with the gentle foothills.
The IUCN put the Dolomites' reputation as one of the ''most attractive parts of the European Alps'' down to the combination of the colour of the rocks - varying at different times of the day - and their verticality and variety of form. This is what the architects and landscape architects Loredana Ponticelli and Cesare Micheletti set out to explain in the Cavalese exhibition. The show considers the Dolomites' beauty in five ways: the archetype, the model, the image, and form and structure. These categories provide the viewer with different interpretive keys to understand the mountains' timeless appeal.
The show opens as the UNESCO committee meets in Seville (June 22-30) to consider applications from around the world. Commissioned and curated by Sergio Camin of the Cavalese Centre for Contemporary Art, the exhibition will be at the Cavalese Art Centre until September 6, 2009 but there are already several requests for it to travel to other places in the Dolomites. Ponticelli and Micheletti were both involved in preparing the documentation for Italy's Dolomite nomination, in particular the aesthetic qualities and the conservation aspects. Complimented by the IUCN for their ''innovative example of good practice'', the two experts bring this same approach to the show in an attempt to synthesise the significance and universal importance of the mountains' exceptional natural beauty.
''The Dolomites are recognized as being among the most beautiful mountains on earth, they are considered a point of reference for beauty in mountainous areas'', said Micheletti. ''Their extraordinary fame has made them into icons and their exceptional beauty is so acclaimed that no one feels the need to ask why they're considered beautiful, it's simply evident''. The pale-coloured mountains are made of a carbonate rock formed from the mineral dolomite. The rock type, the mineral and the Dolomite mountain range itself are named after De'odat de Dolomieu, the 18th century French mineralogist who was the first to describe the area.
''The fact that this exhibition is opening in Cavalese has a symbolic significance - Dolomieu wasn't drawn to these mountains by a spirit of adventure, he was brought here by a Cavalese native, Antonio Scopoli, one of the most important scholars of the time,'' Micheletti said. He explained that Scopoli thought the region might have scientific relevance to studies Dolomieu was conducting and his role in the discoveries made in the Dolomites is documented in the letters he exchanged with Dolomieu. A show on the Dolomites in Cavalese means reintroducing these mountains in the way they were first approached, in the spirit of the search for knowledge'', said Micheletti. Ponticelli said the show was ''a reflection on the way of seeing and thinking about the mountains, and the extraordinary fame of the Dolomites makes them exemplary''.
''You have to take their fame into account. The global success of these mountains has superseded the initial stereotypical image, aimed not at portraying their exceptional beauty but making it dependent on, or at most complementary, to their use''. In 1972 the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted an international treaty to identify and protect cultural and natural heritage. The mission to preserve heritage considered to have outstanding value to humanity is carried out by the World Heritage Committee, scheduled to rule on the Dolomite bid by the end of June. Italy's 2008 application to get its famous mountains a spot on the prestigious list was endorsed by the IUCN in May. Nine mountain groups have been selected as representative of two UNESCO criteria: offering superlative natural phenomena and outstanding examples representing major stages of the earth's history.
