The figure of Napoleon, life inside his garrisons, and the historical link with the Forte di Bard, which was first placed under siege, then defeated and subsequently razed to the ground: these common themes are the starting point for the two-part reflection by Andrea and Paolo Ventura – artists, photographers, and brothers – who are presenting two distinct projects as part of the exhibition Napoléon. Andrea and Paolo Ventura. The exhibition, set up in the halls of the Cannoniere at Forte di Bard, in Valle d’Aosta, will be open to the public from 11 March to 5 June, 2022.
Andrea Ventura is presenting the work entitled Epidemics of Nostalgia (2021, a series of thirteen acrylic colour works on paper, in various sizes), centred on the theme of narcolepsy, a phenomenon involving nostalgia for one’s home/homeland, very widespread among the ranks of Napoleon’s armies, who were engaged on the European fronts in the early nineteenth century. Paolo Ventura, on the other hand, drew inspiration from the siege of Forte di Bard by French troops in May, 1800, to create a series of eleven new and previously unseen works.
The two artists thus each re-interpret the Napoleonic myth of the great battles and the Grande Armée that fought them with their own language. Under the command of a single man, thousands upon thousands of soldiers, young people and adults from all over Europe, marched to Italy, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Russia.
Andrea and Paolo, twins in both life and talent, follow this army, drawing on the tales of war told in the family to offer a highly personal narration of these events, each with their own artistic sensitivity – Andrea as a painter, Paolo as a photographer: the protagonists are not just the soldiers, but also the artists themselves, set in an atmosphere halfway between the real and the dreamlike.
Through this project, the Forte di Bard, once a place of war and confrontation, opens up a reflection on one of the tragic consequences that conflicts dramatically bring with them, marking the lives of entire generations, today just as yesterday.
OPENING HOURS
Weekdays: 10 am | 6 pm
Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays: 10 am | 7 pm
Closed on Mondays
Special openings: Monday 18th and Monday 25th April
RATES
Full-price: €8.00
Concessions (over 65): €7.00
INFO
Fort Bard Association
T. + 39 0125 833811
info@fortedibard.it
