Narrating the Living Town. The Case Study of Seminaria Sogninterra Environmental Art Biennial

Contemporary art offers infinite possibilities to experiment with innovative ways of inclusion, to encourage interculturality, and to reinforce social cohesion by providing concrete tools and methods for the construction of common grounds among sensory communities. This paper focuses on the ten year old Biennial of Environmental Art named Seminaria Sogninterra (a poetical name that stands for Seeds-in-air Dreams-in-ground). It analyses how a programme of art residencies and local art production is regenerating the small town of Maranola where the biennial takes place. Its site-specific and community-based approach uses strategies of participation, ephemerality and addition, to engage local inhabitants in the realization of the event. The case study of Seminaria Sogninterra demonstrates that community-based art can shape a unique idea of public space, and can draw new maps and relations, through which people can build their own identity.