Opening: Sunday, June 29, 2025, at 15:00 am, Cascina Caccia, Borgolavezzaro (NO)
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Discover the map here
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Click here to download the invitation and press kit.
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In Borgolavezzaro, in the heart of a region deeply shaped by its rice-growing tradition, Bibi Manavi’s site-specific installation unfolds in the former Dormitory of the Mondine at Cascina Caccia. The work takes shape as a suspended textile landscape, where images from hydraulic and rural archives evoke gestures, tools, maps, and evolving practices.
Water runs through the installation as living matter and silent memory, weaving together the textures of the land: from irrigation canals seen from above to plant structures observed under the microscope. The images — at times sharp, at times faded — layer across translucent fabrics, revealing the interdependence between environment and human action. The installation offers a sensitive reflection on how bodies, knowledge, and water shape the landscape together.
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Artwork:
01. Bibi Manavi, Flessione Riflesso, 2025, textile prints, wooden supports, metal structures, variable dimensions.
Cascina Caccia, Borgolavezzaro (NO)
The installation is located inside Cascina Caccia.
Public opening days and hours are as follows:
- Saturday and Sunday from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm
(except during the week of Ferragosto)
- July 12–13: from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
(On the occasion of the Festa Patronale della Madonna del Carmelo, extended opening hours are planned)
- Other days by appointment only by contacting the following number: +39 347 805 0674 / Ilaria Grassi
Access via two flights of stairs.
Not accessible to people with reduced mobility.
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Borgolavezzaro (NO)
29.06.2025
Cascina Caccia
13:00
I’M DRAWN TO WHAT LINGERS AT THE EDGE OF DISAPPEARANCE, TRACES LEFT IN WATER, IN SOIL, IN GESTURES. THIS INSTALLATION IS A WAY OF TRACING THESE FADING IMPRINTS AND MAKING THEM VISIBLE AGAIN, IF ONLY BRIEFLY.ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
Bibi Manavi (France/Iran, 1991) is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Paris. She graduated from Central Saint Martins – University of the Arts London, with a degree in Fine Arts in 20215. Her practice explores the thematics of memory, ecology, and cultural heritage through the medium of mirrored sculptures and photography. Rooted in the Persian craft of Aineh-Kari, her work reinterprets traditional mirror mosaic techniques through biomorphic patterns inspired by microscopic plant structures. By combining sculpture and photography, she archives disappearing flora, using reflective surfaces to dissolve the boundary between viewer and environment. Her installations engage with the fragility of ecosystems and the shifting landscapes of the Anthropocene.
Manavi’s work has been exhibited internationally in institutions. In 2023, she participated in Imprints of Iran at Cromwell Place in London and her series Memory of Walnut Trees was exhibited at MIA Fair in Milan, exploring photography as a means of ecological storytelling. She has also participated in institutional exhibitions such as Le Mont Analogue, FRAC Cham- pagne-Ardenne (FR, 2021) and Critical Zones, ZKM Karlsruhe (DE, 2020), both addressing the intersection of art, landscape, and environmental change. Alongside her artistic practice, Manavi has led curatorial projects focused on Iranian textile traditions, including Textile as Art and Stitching Baluchestan, presented at London Craft Week 2023, London.
Borgolavezzaro is a village nestled in the Novara countryside, surrounded by rice fields and waterways that shape its landscape, with nature trails inviting visitors to explore a peaceful environment rich in biodiversity. Mentioned in documents as early as the 11th century, the village came under the rule of noble families such as the Visconti and the Sforza, playing an important role in the agricultural system of the Po Valley.Rice cultivation, introduced in the 15th century, remained the village’s main economic activity for centuries, and the work of the mondine (female rice field workers) profoundly influenced the social life of the community. Today, the area is enriched by sites of significant natural interest, such as Campo della Ghina, Campo della Sciura, and the Agogna Morta area—spaces that have been revitalized through environmental protection projects, reflecting a renewed bond between the community and its landscape.The historic center is home to the Church of Saints Bartolomeo and Gaudenzio, designed by the renowned architect Alessandro Antonelli, best known for the Mole Antonelliana in Turin. It also features ancient farmsteads and historic buildings that bear witness to the area’s agricultural past.
Veronica Botta (Treviso, Italy, 1990) is a researcher and project manager in the field of contemporary art. Since 2024, she has led the curatorial coordination of Panorama at ITALICS and, since 2023, she has been Head of Archive and Research at Archivio Franco Mazzucchelli. Previously, she was Exhibition and Production Coordinator at MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome and Gallery Manager at Galerie Emanuel Layr. She has collaborated with numerous public and private institutions and has been a lecturer at Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma and NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti.