Chianti Sculpture Park: where art and nature meet
The Chianti Sculpture Park is located near Pievasciata, a small village part of the municipality of Castelnuovo Berardenga, located about 10 kilometers north of Siena. It is a particular and interesting permanent exhibition of contemporary installations and sculptures, well inserted in the natural context of Chianti.
The park was opened in 2004 thanks to a private initiative by Piero and Rosalba Giadrossi, two great contemporary art enthusiasts, who decided to transform 7 hectares of forest, which until a few years earlier was occupied by a wild boar farm, into an exhibition venue. The main objective of the Chianti Sculpture Park is to integrate the work of art into the environment. To achieve this goal, the artists are invited to visit the forest, to choose a place, and then to formulate artistic proposals that live in harmony with the surrounding nature. Each sculpture is therefore site-specific as it was created for the sculpture park after an artist’s inspection. This means that the composition is complete only with in connection with the surrounding environment and everything created by nature.
Visit to the park
The visit itinerary of the Chianti Sculpture Park is 1 km long. Along the route, which is also interspersed with some picnic areas, there are various installations created by artists from all over the world: Argentina, Australia, Colombia, Korea, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Japan, Greece, Indonesia, India , UK, Italy, Holland, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, USA and Zimbabwe.
There are also numerous materials used to give life to sculptures and installations that represent different cultures: iron, travertine, marble, wood, steel, glass, resin, etc.
Among the various works we find the Amphitheater, made with white Carrara marble and black granite from Zimbabwe, the Rainbow by the Italian artist Federica Marangoni, which produces arches of colored light that contrast with the green of the forest, The Keel, a work by Turkish Kemal Tufan made with volcanic lava, The Thinker, a tribute to Rodin’s Thinker made by the Indonesian artist Ichwan Noor and the glass Labyrinth by Jeff Saward.
List of artists and works
- Adriano Visintin (Italia) – Xaris
- Anita Glesta (Australia) – Dialogue
- Benbow Bullock (USA) – Omaggio a Brancusi
- Christoph Spath (Germania) – Balance
- Cor Litjens (Olanda) – Unfinished Building
- Costas Varotsos (Grecia) – Energy
- Benhura (Zimbabwe) – Salto della Cavallina
- Dolorosa Sinaga (Indonesia) – Harmonic Divergence
- Federica Marangoni (Italia) – Arcobaleno
- Johannes Pfeiffer (Germania) – Limes
- Jaya Schuerch (Svizzera) – Harmonic Divergence
- Jeff Saward (Inghilterra) – Labirinto
- Kei Nakamura (Giappone) – La Casa Nel Bosco
- Kemal Tufan (Turchia) – The Keel
- Kim Hae Won (Corea del Sud) – Island
- Mauro Berrettini (Italia) – La Pietra Sospesa
- Neal Barab (USA) – Twist
- Nicolas Bertoux (Francia) – Coin de Bois Blanc
- Piero Giadrossi (Italia) – Come eravamo
- Pilar Aldana (Colombia) – Construccion Para Atrapar El Tempo
- Roberto Cipollone (Italia) – Chianti
- U.R. Christiansen (Danimarca) – The Blue Bridge
- Vincent Leow (Singapore) – The Milk Factory
- William Furlong (Inghilterra) – Off The Beaten Track
- Xavier B. Fontenla (Argentina) – Por La Libertad de Prensa
- Yasmina Heidar (Egitto) – La Foglia Cadente
Smartphone app
While visiting the park, you can use the ChiantiPark app, the official application of the Chianti Sculpture Park, which acts as a multimedia guide to both the park and the nearby village of Pievasciata. The contents of the application are available in Italian, English, French and German. The app can be downloaded for free from the Apple Store and Google Play.
Events at the park
From June to September, the Park Amphitheater hosts concerts of classical music, jazz, opera, tango and other musical genres in a stimulating atmosphere.
Pievasciata Borgo d’arte Contemporanea
Pievasciata has recently become a village of contemporary art. There are nine other contemporary art sculptures in and around the village, a stone’s throw from the park. Among these works, for example, it is possible to admire the “Struzzi Metropolitani“, a man and a woman 5.60 meters tall who bury their faces in the branches of a cypress, a steel horse called “Palio” or a large bottle of “Chianti Classico” wine, a tribute to the main products of the region, formed from a single block of volcanic lava.
The project stems from the collaboration between the Associazione Culturale Amici del Parco, the Municipality of Castelnuovo Berardenga, the Province of Siena and the Tuscany Region, and was carried out as part of Toscana Contemporanea 2012. In the installation of the work, the houses and institutions further involved the beautification of Chianti, an area already known for its wine and picturesque villages.
Information for visiting the Chianti Sculpture Park
Address
The park is located in La Fornace, S.P. 9, 48/49 – 53010 Pievasciata (Siena)
Timetables
The opening hours vary since the park is generally open every day from 10 in the morning until sunset. During the winter I recommend that you contact the park before your visit.
The visit lasts about an hour and a half.
Tickets
The cost of the ticket is 10 euros for adults and 5 euros for under 16s; children up to 4 years enter for free. Dogs are allowed in the park.
For more information, I invite you to visit the park’s official website.
How to get to the Chianti Sculpture Park
Those coming from the north or from Florence must take the Firenze-Siena highway to the Siena Nord exit and go towards Castellina in Chianti up to the detour to Vagliagli and then continue towards Pievasciata.
Those arriving from the south must take the A1 motorway to the Valdichiana exit and continue on the Valdichiana/Bettolle–Siena (SP715) highway and then exit at Siena Est; continue to the end of viale Toselli and turn right at the roundabout towards Montevarchi. At this point you have to follow the signs up to Ponte a Bozzone where you will find the detour to the Park.
