Manifesta 7

The defensive fortification of Fortezza close to the Brenner pass that connects Austria and Italy today was built by the Habsburgs in the 1830s. It has been a mysterious place from the beginning: inaccessible, then temporally inhabited by two thousand soldiers, a depositary of Nazi gold stolen during the Second World War from the Bank of Italy, later an ammunition depot. In 2008 the fortress became one of the stations on Manifesta 7, The European Biennial For Contemporary Art, which takes place in four locations in the South Tyrol and Trentino area. The curators Adam Budak, Anselm Franke, Hila Peleg and the Raqs Media Collective have responded to the site with an exhibition titled Scenarios. This exhibition deliberately avoids visual works in order not to interrupt the unique architecture of the site. Instead, Scenarios focuses on sound and voice (and a programme of silent films) by locating recordings 'speaks' these texts to the visitor. This publication assembles the complete versions of these texts. A series of photographs foreshadows both the peculiarity and unique sense of place of the physical location and also the subtle presence of the exhibition. Rovereto, Trento, Bolzano, Fortezza, July - November 2008