Radis
Public Space
Radis is a public art project conceived and promoted by Fondazione Arte CRT, in collaboration with the Fondazione CRC.
The title ‘Radis’ (from the Piedmontese word for ‘root’) highlights the project’s desire to establish a genuine and symbolic connection to the local area by extending it to public spaces in Piedmontese villages and towns.
Radis aims to enrich the Piedmont region with a legacy of public artworks by involving local residents, organisations, and associations. Each year, the commissioning of a new artwork is accompanied by an educational programme, an exhibition featuring works from the collections of the two foundations, and a public programme. These events are designed to build anticipation in the lead-up to the artwork’s unveiling in a public space. These new pieces, which engage with local history and landscapes, will help create a shared visual identity and could encourage environmentally and sustainably focused tourism.
Following the highly successful projects in the municipalities of Rittana and Dogliani, which saw the creation of Giulia Cenci’s le masche and Petrit Halilaj’s Abetare (A Day at School), the third edition was once again curated by Marta Papini in collaboration with the Fondazione CRC. This time, the Colombian artist Iván Argote was invited to create a work for the Bene Vagienna area of Cuneo province.
Argote was invited to create a piece specifically for ‘la rotonda’, transforming it into an open square for socialising, play and participation.
Piazza del Chafleo is the realisation of a project artist Iván Argote has been developing since 2016. In 2019, the artist created a video in which he imagined the many possible meanings of the verb ‘chafleare’, which he invented. ‘Chafleare’ is a neologism, the definition of which remains deliberately open. Instead of installing a monument to commemorate a person or event from the past, Iván Argote transforms the space known as ‘the rotonda’ into a square that takes the name of a new word that will acquire meaning gradually, depending on how people use this place. If people come to kiss, ‘chafleare’ will mean ‘kiss’; if people come to protest, it will mean ‘protest’. The work overturns the logic of the traditional monument, which locks in who and what is commemorated, giving it back to the people who use and pass through the space, transforming the square into an open question about how we choose to be together, symbolically and physically.
The project is accompanied by an educational programme and a public programme, as well as the collective exhibition ‘ La mano sinistra del buio’ ( The Left Hand of Darkness), created with works from the collections of Fondazione Arte CRT and Fondazione CRC, with the aim of making them accessible once again to the wider community in the Piedmont region.
Il Diario di Radis Dogliani 2026 (The Radis’ Diary) is a collection of six texts published monthly in the columns of Il Giornale dell’Arte, providing a progressive account of the third edition of the project from different angles, from the territory to the didactic and participatory projects, to Iván Argote, Piazza del Chafleo. The Radis Diary is therefore intended to recount the project in its different levels of reading and the Italian digital format can be downloaded in HERE.
Design by XXY
For the second edition of Radic, the project’s curator, Marta Papini, invited the artist Petrit Halilaj (born 1986 in Kostërrc, Kosovo) to create a piece in Borgata Valdibà in the Dogliani area of Cuneo province.
Halilaj was commissioned to create a site-specific piece in a location where a small village school once stood – a two-storey building that has been disused since the 1970s.
Abetare (A Day at the School), 2025. Drawings and Doodles from School Desks in Dogliani and the Balkans is the first permanent piece in the Abetare project, from which it takes its title. This is a series of works that Halilaj has been developing since 2015, bringing to life the stylised house engraved on a desk by a child at a school in Dogliani. The artist assembled bent and twisted steel tubes to faithfully reproduce the drawing, transforming a fleeting doodle into a permanent sculptural piece. As the title suggests, Halilaj has created a new imaginary school populated by creatures, writings, and symbols from the Langhe and the Balkans. The work is a crossroads of signs and figures from different geographical areas — an encounter that becomes a joyful celebration of imagination, fantasy, freedom and play for children everywhere and at all times.
The project is accompanied by an educational programme and a public programme, as well as the collective exhibition ‘Tutto ciò che tocchi cambia. Tutto ciò che tocchi cambia, ti cambia’ (Everything you touch changes. Everything you touch changes; everything you change changes you), created with works from the collections of Fondazione Arte CRT and Fondazione CRC, offers a reflection with the aim of returning them to the vision of the Piedmontese community.
Il Diario di Radis Dogliani 2025 (The Radis’ Diary) is a collection of six texts published monthly in the columns of Il Giornale dell’Arte, providing a progressive account of the second edition of the project from different angles, from the territory to the didactic and participatory projects, to Petrit Halilaj’s work, Abetare (A Day at the School). The Radis Diary is therefore intended to recount the project in its different levels of reading and the Italian digital format can be downloaded in HERE.
The documentary “Radis 2025 – Abetare (A Day at the School) di Petrit Halilaj”, made by Cucù Milano e TIWI and broadcast by Sky Arte on 29 March 2029, which describes the various stages and activities of the project, is be available on the Fondazione Arte CRT’s YouTube channel.
Design by XXY
Radis is the new public art project promoted by the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT for the four years 2024-2027; the first edition took place in the province of Cuneo in collaboration with the Fondazione CRC.
In the first, Marta Papini the curator of the project, has invited the artist Giulia Cenci to create a work for a wooded area in the Valle Stura near the town of Rittana. The artist got in touch with the inhabitants to learn about local stories and traditions and design her work. The work the property of Fondazione Arte CRT and has been loaned to the Municipality of Rittana.
In addition to the commission of the work, an educational programme, a public program and the collective exhibition L’opera al nero were developed as a path towards the inauguration on 6 October 2024.
Il Diario di Radis (The Radis’ Diary) is a collection of six texts published monthly in the columns of Il Giornale dell’Arte, providing a progressive account of the project from different angles, from the territory to the didactic and participatory projects, to Giulia Cenci’s work, le masche. The Radis Diary is therefore intended to recount the project in its different levels of reading and the Italian digital format can be downloaded in HERE.
Il Chiot Rosa clearing and the work by Giulia Cenci are part of the Mappatura dell’arte nei luoghi della Provincia di Cuneo (Mapping of Art in the Places of the Province of Cuneo), curated by Vittoria Martini. This research (the Italian digital format can be downloaded HERE) tells of the works of art in the territory of Cuneo and the way in which they have been commissioned over the years. The mapping reveals the attention given to culture in this specific territory and tells of a virtuous model of commissioning for public space.
The documentary “Radis – le masche di Giulia Cenci”, made by Cucù Milano e TIWI and broadcast by Sky Arte on 25 March 2025, which describes the various stages and activities of the project, is available on the Fondazione Arte CRT’s YouTube channel.
Identity design by Fionda
Gallery
Past editions
Radis 2026
Radis is an art project in the public space developed and promoted by the Fondazione Arte CRT, the art-oriented body of the Fondazione CRT. This third edition is once more in collaboration with the Fondazione CRC.
For the third edition, the curator Marta Papini invited artist Iván Argote to create a site-specific work in the district of Bene Vagienna (Cuneo). The work, inaugurated on 11 October 2026, will remain the property of Fondazione Arte CRT, on permanent loan to the Municipality of Bene Vagienna.
A group exhibition showcasing works from the Fondazione Arte CRT and the Fondazione CRC, curated by Marta Papini, was inaugurated on the same date and will be open until 6 December.
Radis intends to enrich the Piedmontese territory with a heritage of public art and the active participation of the inhabitants, local authorities and associations.
Therefore, in addition to the commission of the work, an educational programme, a public program were developed as a path towards the inauguration.
Radis 2025
Radis is an art project in the public space developed and promoted by the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, the art-oriented body of the Fondazione CRT. This second edition is once more in collaboration with the Fondazione CRC.
For the second edition, curator Marta Papini invited artist Petrit Halilaj (born in 1986 in Kostërrc, Kosovo) to create a work for Borgata Valdibà, in the district of Dogliani (Cuneo). The work, inaugurated on 5 October 2025, will remain the property of Fondazione Arte CRT, on permanent loan to the Municipality of Dogliani.
Radis intends to enrich the Piedmontese territory with a heritage of public art and the active participation of the inhabitants, local authorities and associations.
Therefore, in addition to the commission of the work, an educational programme, a public program and a collective exhibition were developed as a path towards the inauguration.
Radis 2024
Radis is the new public art project promoted by the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT; the first edition will take place in the province of Cuneo in collaboration with the Fondazione CRC.
In the first, Marta Papini the curator of the project, has invited the artist Giulia Cenci to create a work for a wooded area in the Valle Stura near the town of Rittana. The work will remain the property of Fondazione CRT and will be on permanent loan to the Municipality of Rittana.
Radis intends to enrich the Piedmontese territory with a heritage of public art and the active participation of the inhabitants, local authorities and associations.
Therefore, in addition to the commission of the work, an educational programme, a public program and a collective exhibition were developed as a path towards the inauguration on 6 October 2024.
Further details available on the website
