Exhibition: Incontrare Christian Martinelli begegnen

One year after the far too early death of Christian Martinelli (Merano, 1970 - Innsbruck 2022), Kunst Meran is dedicating an extensive solo exhibition to the artist and photographer. The personale, curated by Ursula Schnitzer and Anna Zinelli, is complemented by a space on the agency of an artistic estate, curated by BAU - Institute for Contemporary Art and Ecology (Simone Mair and Lisa Mazza).

The exhibition traces the extensive projects of the sensitive photographic artist from Merano, often spread over several years, and presents his works in combination with personal belongings and objects he designed himself. Martinelli's studio and flat, Villa Dolores on the outskirts of Merano, were the inspiration for this special form of presentation. The artist experimented and photographed there for many years, founded the photo association 00A and turned the house and garden into a lively meeting place for photography and art. Martinelli had to cancel a meeting with the Kunst Meran team in the summer of 2022 several times due to illness, and in the end it never came about.
Before the dissolution of the studio and flat in spring 2023, the two exhibition curators were able to view known and previously unseen works and, in combination with special objects, made a selection for the exhibition.

The show also includes the exhibition version of the oversized walk-in camera, the Cube (created in collaboration with Andrea Salvá and Andrea Pizzini), with which Martinelli travelled the Italian coast, and parts of the extensive series of large-format direct exposures entitled "confini".

The design of a hall as a darkroom and at the same time an intimate, introspective exhibition space is a reminder of the great importance of Christian Martinelli's workshop-based practice and transmission of photographic knowledge. Enlargers, cameras, lenses, light meters, developer cans and photographic paper meet here with the works on which the artist worked until the end.

In a BAU thinking space at the end of the exhibition, a selection of works, working materials, publications from the artist's and photographer's archive and a series of public events will explore the theme of the agency of an artistic legacy.

What is an artistic estate? How can one take care of an artistic legacy? On the third floor of Kunst Meran, there is the possibility of immersing oneself in a thinking space that invites visitors to reflect on the agency of an artistic legacy. A selection of works, working materials, publications from the archive of the artist and photographer Christian Martinelli and a series of public events will explore the theme of the artistic legacy. The space is curated by BAU, Institute for Contemporary Art and Ecology (Simone Mair and Lisa Mazza).

An extensive range of workshops around the practice of analogue photography as well as darkroom experience will focus on photography in Kunst Meran's autumn/winter programme.

The workshop series "Spurensuche" will see the reactivation of the "Gallery-Van", a small caravan belonging to the artist for mobile photo projects. The caravan, which the artist has used to offer photography courses and exhibitions in a wide variety of contexts, for example with Sardinian shepherds, will be brought to Sterzing, Innichen and Mals in the course of the exhibition and will once again function as a space for photography courses, darkroom and gallery for a short time.
Beyond the exhibition, the festival for contemporary music SONORA 706 commemorates Christian Martinelli in this year's seventh edition from 12 to 27 October with the title orizzonti.
In addition to some pieces directly related to the artist's works on the programme of the first evening, the other five concert evenings also tie in with the themes of Martinelli's artistic work in the broadest sense.