Ten days of hiking, mountain huts, and artistic practices: "Abitare il paesaggio", the UNIDEE Residency Programs summer module, created with the support of the Zegna Foundation, has just concluded. From July 8 to 17, 2025, eight students from the G. e Q. Sella Art School in Biella, accompanied by artist Claudia Losi, participated. The experience is part of a three-year program launched in 2023 that annually offers young people from the area an artistic and educational immersion to discover the Oasi Zegna, exploring nature, community, and ecological imagination.

Artist Claudia Losi, known for her interdisciplinary approach and attentiveness to ecological impact, led the module through two complementary phases: an initial exploration and collection phase in the mountains and a second workshop phase in the Cittadellarte spaces.

During the first days of the residency, the young people hiked along the nature reserve's trails, staying overnight at the Piana del Ponte Refuge and stopping at significant locations such as Bocchetto Sessera, Bosco del Sorriso, Piana del Ponte, and Alpe Moncerchio. The excursions were led by Fabrizio Calatti, an environmental hiking guide, who accompanied the group on a discovery of the Alpine landscape, reflecting on the geology, fauna, flora, and history of the area. To enrich the experience, the group spoke with Marcello Vaudano, President of DocBi, to delve into the history of transhumance, with Ruggero Poi, who discussed educational transhumance projects in the area, and with Vanina Lappa, a filmmaker who has worked extensively on the theme of transhumance. Additionally, field meetings with farmers and their herds were held, along with group readings, sensory exercises, and moments of reflection around the fire. "We asked the students to walk in silence, to be led with their eyes closed, to observe the landscape as a living, layered body", explained Claudia Losi.

The central theme of the module was "transhumance", understood as an act of crossing capable of triggering internal and external change. "There is no shepherd who governs the flock", Losi explained, "but rather a person who accompanies and changes with the group. We were a small flock that left the plains to climb to higher ground, bringing back to the valley, on our return, a collective, sensitive, and nourishing narrative".

Back in Biella, the students continued the experience in the Cittadellarte spaces, translating the materials collected during the walk into a narrative and a collectively designed artistic work. Images, words, sounds, notebooks, and objects became the material for constructing a choral, visual, and performative narrative.

At the conclusion of the module, a public presentation of the experience took place on Thursday, July 17, bringing together participants, families, teachers, and representatives of the foundations and organizations involved. The open studio opened with the screening of a video documenting the experience, created by Nicholas Ferrara (visual storytelling and video making). This was followed by a performance led by the artist, in which the students, barefoot, walked across a large map drawn on the ground, tracing the word "life" with chalk, which emerged as a profound summary of the journey undertaken. Notes, memos, and drawings from the days in the mountains completed the display.

As in previous editions, the final work will be presented at Casa Zegna (Valdilana) during an event in collaboration with the Zegna Foundation, Oasi Zegna, and the FAI Biella Delegation in Autumn 2025, with the participation of the artist and the students involved.

In her speech, Fondazione Zegna President Anna Zegna stated: "We wanted to offer young people the opportunity to experience the landscape experientially, understanding how important the balance between nature and community is for our future. The thinking of founder Ermenegildo Zegna finds continuity today in the dialogue with the vision of Michelangelo Pistoletto".

A dialogue that is renewed year after year, generating educational experiences that leave their mark on the region and its inhabitants, and that make art a concrete tool for collective awareness and transformation.

Notes to the article
The eight students from the G. e Q. Sella Art School involved in the Summer School: Ginevra Ghiglia, Leila De Almeida Rizzari, Alizee Moda, Beatrice Dallatorre, Alessandro Cossavella, Mattia Senes, Alice Carone, and Alice Canova.

The Rifugio Piana del Ponte and Agriturismo Moncerchio will logistically support the days at high altitude, in a context of active collaboration with local organizations.

The Abitare il paesaggio Summer School is part of the UNIDEE Residency Programs 2025. For more information: www.unidee.it.

Artist Biography
Claudia Losi's research begins with the observation of the relationships between the individual, their community, their ecosystem, and their imagination. She creates multidisciplinary projects that sometimes develop over long periods of time, activating various forms of collaboration (through walking, manual work, and choral singing), networking, and weaving stories. She works with various media, including site-specific installations and performances, sculpture, photography, and works on textiles and paper. She has exhibited her work in numerous institutions in Italy and abroad. In 2020, her project Being There. Beyond the Garden was among the winners of the 9th edition of the Italian Council. In 2021, she published The Whale Theory. An Imaginary Animal (Johan&Levi, Milan) and Voice in the Wind (Kunstverein Milan). In 2022, she published Being There. Beyond the Garden (Viaindustriae, Foligno) and Among the Infinite Possible Combinations (Gli Ori, Pistoia).