There is no shortage of excellent museums to choose from in
Italy, as is patently obvious. Whether you’re heading to the Vatican City, which is essentially one giant museum-state, to Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, to Venice, home to the
Biennale, which remains one of the world’s most important contemporary art exhibitions, and much more besides, there are plenty of options. However, while the famous and large museums filled with renowned names and works of art are undoubtedly important and worth seeing, we are big fans of the more obscure hidden gems that are dotted around the country. If you have found a
vacation rental in Trentino, for example, you might want to check out a rather special museum indeed: an outdoor museum located across a beautiful forested alpine area.
In the
Val di Sella, a pretty little valley located in the the Valsugana region of Trentino, a half hour from Trento, you will find the
Arte Sella an open-air museum that is home to around 58 works of art dotted along a trail through the woods of Val di Sella. Tracing its roots back to 1986, when local artists began exhibiting their art in this area, the one-off event then became a biannual event and, finally, in 1996 became a permanent fixture in the area. The works are all created using natural materials that are found in the area – with twigs, branches, logs, rocks, and leaves being some of the most common materials that are used – and are sometimes interwoven with living plants and trees, allowing them to change, grow, and take on a life of their own. Works are also set up to make the most of their surroundings, frame views, and live in harmony with this lovely part of the world.
