Floods have hit Michelangelo Pistoletto’s non-profit arts centre in Biella, northern Italy, causing an estimated €2.5 million in damage.
Over the weekend the region was hit by severe weather passing over south-eastern France and north-western Italy. Storm Alex has left two people dead and up to 20 missing.
The main body of Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto’s nineteenth-century building, a former Trombetta wool mill, remains intact, but a photo shows an external wall has collapsed as well as extensive internal damage. The centre will be closed until structural investigations can be undertaken. The student rooms of the neighbouring Accademia Unidee were evacuated just before part of that building was swept away.
Pistoletto founded Cittadellarte in 1998 in the disused textile mill by the River Cervo in the Piedmontese town. It is described as a ‘creative laboratory’ and is intended as a venture in which artists, scientists, activists and entrepreneurs can collaborate. As well as hosting a programme of residencies, exhibitions, workshops and conferences, the centre is currently home to several autonomous organisations dealing with sustainable education, heritage and sustainable land use.
The MACIST museum of modern art, located on slightly higher ground opposite Pistoletto’s property, was closed on Saturday as a precautionary measure but was welcoming visitors to its retrospective of Italian artist Omar Ronda on Sunday.
