Contenuto Rimosso in Lorenzago di Cadore, Robida in Topolò, and Ca’Mon in Monno are three artistic and cultural projects in small mountain towns, each contributing to a reframing of highland territories as laboratories for contemporary experimentation and active citizenship. In Lorenzago, the rethinking of historical memory becomes a collective ritual, capable of reshaping the village’s identity. In Topolò, the Robida collective transforms the concept of ‘the margins’ into a political and spatial category to be inhabited. In Monno, Ca’Mon is a community centre that integrates artistic research, artisanal knowledge, and mountain agriculture, reclaiming a former kindergarten as a shared space for new forms of cultural and social renewal. Although through different approaches, each project focuses on processes of co-production and the redefinition of ‘localism’ through long-term engagement, organic relationships, and everyday practices. The rooted presence of artists and collectives in places that are often fragile yet rich in latent potential expresses a commitment to contexts that call for generative – rather than cosmetic – artistic actions. The aim is to highlight the slow and non-linear weavings through which new forms of heritage, imagination, dwelling, social spaces, and civic responsibility are co-produced by and with local communities. This also involves a critical re-examination of the role of the artist, the processes undertaken, and the modes of relationality of situated art and cultural practice.
