The cultural association dotART, in collaboration with Exhibit Around APS, presents the multidisciplinary project BEYOND WORDS. Photographic and Poetic Explorations in the Soul of Giuseppe Ungaretti, a tribute to the great Italian poet and his deep connection to Friuli Venezia Giulia, a land that inspired some of his most intense and significant works.

Giuseppe Ungaretti, one of the most important figures in 20th-century Italian literature, experienced a crucial period of his life in Friuli Venezia Giulia during World War I. The front lines, the trenches, and the ravaged landscape profoundly influenced his human and poetic experience. Works such as “Mattina”, “Il porto sepolto”, “San Martino del Carso”, and “Veglia” testify to his deep bond with these places.

“BEYOND WORDS” celebrates Ungaretti’s work and Friuli Venezia Giulia by intertwining photography and poetry, two languages capable of evoking deep emotions and telling complex stories. Through contemporary poetry and photography, the project offers new perspectives on Ungaretti’s figure and his extraordinary ability to transform lived experience into immortal words, fostering reflections on the human condition through the dialogue between images, poetry, and the places that shaped the history and culture of the region.

Project participants are Gianpaolo Arena, a photographer specializing in visual research projects and territorial documentation, focusing on the interaction between landscape, architecture, and society. He will develop a photographic project in the symbolic sites of World War I and Giuseppe Ungaretti; Angelo Floramo, academic, historian, medievalist, and scientific consultant for the Guarneriana Library of San Daniele del Friuli; Poets, who will create compositions inspired by Ungaretti’s themes and the places of the region, where Ungaretti composed some of his most significant verses.

“BEYOND WORDS” consists of:

• Poetry competition (February 17 – March 30, 2025): Open to poets and enthusiasts for submissions inspired by Ungaretti’s themes or a contemporary reinterpretation of the places and emotions evoked in his works. Poems in Italian, English, and Slovenian are accepted.
• Three photo walks (March – April 2025): Taking place in locations symbolizing Ungaretti’s connection with Friuli Venezia Giulia—Santa Maria la Longa, Sagrado-Ungaretti Park-Medana, and Doberdò del Lago. Participants will immerse themselves in these places and reinterpret their atmosphere with a contemporary gaze, guided by photographer Vincenzo Labellarte.
• Photography workshop with Gianpaolo Arena (March – April 2025): Held in the landscapes that inspired Ungaretti’s works, this photographic exploration of World War I sites, led by Arena’s experience and artistic sensibility, will offer a unique opportunity to deepen the relationship between imagery and poetry, stimulating creativity and expressive research within the historical and cultural context that shaped Ungaretti’s work.

The activities will culminate in a photographic-poetic publication, where Gianpaolo Arena’s authorial project will dialogue with selected poems and be enriched by texts by Angelo Floramo; a photographic-poetic exhibition and presentation event during Trieste Photo Days 2025; an audio-video documentary, featuring interviews with project protagonists and footage of historical sites connected to Ungaretti, to raise public awareness of historical memory and the value of poetry.

“BEYOND WORDS“ is part of the GO! 2025 program, celebrating Nova Gorica and Gorizia as the European Capital of Culture, emphasizing the universal value of Ungaretti’s poetry in promoting dialogue, peace, and unity.

The project is supported by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region – Io Sono Friuli Venezia Giulia, in partnership with the Municipality of Sagrado, the Municipality of Santa Maria La Longa, the Circolo Fotografico Friulano, the Associazione Amici di Castelnuovo, and Zavod Alma Ars of Medana (Dobrovo v Brdih).

Collaborators include Photographer Gianpaolo Arena, Angelo Floramo, historian, medievalist, and consultant for the Guarneriana Library, Photographer Vincenzo Labellarte, 2024 CRAF FVG Award winner and artistic consultant for Trieste Photo Days.

Poetry partners: Associazione Milanofestivaletteratura, Fondazione Mario Luzi, and Erreics Onlus.