Nazario Zambaldi
Bolzano, December 18, 1972
Graduated in Literature and Philosophy in Trento and with a diploma from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, he has lived mainly in Merano since 2000, with periods spent in Bologna, Berlin, and Milan. Between 2000 and 2005, he integrated his artistic activity with workshops for children and young people, starting with the "Giocare con l'arte" workshops by Munari, and from 2002, he focused on educational (Kunst Merano Arte) and socio-educational projects, further exploring these areas with adult groups and teachers by directing training and updating courses. Since 2005, he has extended his research to theatre as an actor and director with TEATRO PRATIKO in the psychiatric context project called Teatro Casa Basaglia, with which he produced the plays "NO. A story of Wall Street" (2005), "OZ. In the Emerald City" (2007), and "La Torre. Stagioni" (2009), a production hosted by La Soffitta — the theatrical season of the Department of Music and Performing Arts at the University of Bologna, curated by Marco De Marinis, and the season of the Teatro Stabile di Toscana, Teatro Metastasio, curated by Giuliano Scabia. From 2007 to 2010, in teatri di silenzio (theatres of silence), he created, in addition to the seminar aniMAle at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, the productions "ANNA" (2008), "Cuore di cane" (2009), and "Parola" (2010). From 2010, with the Centro Teatro di Merano or C.R.A.T. (Centro Ricerca Artistica Teatrale), he curated CRATere, a small festival of theatre, arts, and humanity. Other productions include "Amos" (2011), "Uno" (2012), and "Pesciolino" (2013) based on Pier Paolo Pasolini’s work. Among other educational projects, he collaborated with Jurij Alschitz for the seminars "From Energy to Creativity" (2007), "Pedagogical Theatre" (2010), "Spring is Coming!" (2011), and "Hortus Conclusus" (2013).
Since 2014, he has initiated the NoN festival, a laboratory on the border between Trentino and South Tyrol, the Babylon OPEN Atelier in Bolzano, and the Macello co-working space. He conducted PhD research in Pedagogy at the Free University of Bolzano, focusing on Embodied Education through art and theatre between 2014 and 2017.
In 2019, he curated the project Quale Bellezza? with Michelangelo Pistoletto in Bolzano, and in 2020, he organized the exhibition dedicated to Bruno Munari, Munari in Movimento, at the Centro Trevi in Bolzano. He publishes on art, philosophy, and pedagogy, including in scientific contexts, and participates in national and international events and conferences. He teaches philosophy and human sciences at the Liceo Pascoli in Bolzano. He is a member of the scientific committee for the END (Educational New Developments) conference, an international conference based in Portugal, and for the Alexander Langer Foundation in Bolzano. He is the curator of the international conference PEA Pedagogy Ecology and the Arts www.peaconference.org, now entering its third edition in 2025 — following polis, peace, and the upcoming power — with publications in the scientific series Ecologie della Formazione by FrancoAngeli. His most recent project, which spans the pedagogical, social, visual, and theatrical fields, is POLIS (the city is no longer), in collaboration with Barbara Weigel, Belgian playwright Paul Pourveur, Mamadou Dioume, among others. He will soon present L’uomo senza qualità (o l’anti Adamo) based on Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften by Musil.
Main Exhibitions:
Solo:
2025: "The city is no longer", Art City Bologna: Diffused installation "Augenblick" at Ateliersi, Booming Contemporary Art Show, Open Project
2024: EDEN (Junk city), BAW Bolzano Art Weeks
2023: GENESI - "Babel", Milan, Stecca 3
2022: GENESI - "Vanitas", Merano, Centro per la cultura
2022: VIA SALIS, Bolzano, Centro Trevi and Macello space
2019: POLIS, Rome, MACRO Museo di Arte Contemporanea
2018: POLIS - "Souvenir", Ronzone (TN), Museo degli usi e costumi, NoN festival
2018: POLIS - "The Tree", Cles (TN), Casa Sociale di Caltron, NoN festival
2018: POLIS - "Eden - In the garden", Trieste, MiniMu, Parco San Giovanni
2018: POLIS - "Eden", Merano, Centro per la cultura
2017: POLIS - "Eden", Bolzano, Museion
2016: POLIS "atelier", Merano, Centro per la cultura
2012-2015: "OPEN", Bolzano, Babylon Atelier
2012: MAIA AMAI, ES Contemporary art gallery, Merano
2011: "Babylon", Merano, Centro per la cultura, Arte e città, presentation on the occasion of the Giornata del Contemporaneo by A.M.A.C.I., with Gisella Vismara and Giovanni Maria Accame
2011: "Babylon", Trento, Centro Teatro, exhibition preview with study for the performance “Amos”
2008: "Responsa", Trento, Parco Gocciadoro in Parallel events to MANIFESTA7
2008: "Rumorosa solitudine" 30 papers and 10 typewriters in collaboration with the Museum of Typewriters Peter Mitterhofer
2005: "Genesi", Venice, Magazzini del Sale
2005: "Responsa", Merano, Brunnenburg, residence of Ezra Pound
2004: "Florilegio", Rovereto, Palazzo Todeschi, Merano, Kunst Merano Arte
2003: "Luoghi comuni", Bolzano, Centro Trevi
2001: "Vanitas", Merano, Galleria Art Dependent
2000: "Berliner Tagebuch", Berlin, Tacheles
1998: "Limen", Laives (Bolzano), Galleria La Goccia
1997: "Pictor modernus", Paris, Universitè Paris III, Sorbonne Nouvelle
Group Exhibitions:
2024: "Eden (Junk city)", Bolzano, Cinema Capitol
2024: "Via Illuminativa", Bressanone (Bz) Maria Walcher, Yoko Ono, Valie Export, Karolina Gacke, Nazario Zambaldi, Michelangelo Pistoletto, David Černý, Valeria Stuflesser, Schmusechor, Nemanja Cvijanović, Sissa Micheli, Martin Rainer, and Total Refusal (curated by Hannes Egger)
2023: "Eden (Escape)", Bolzano, Liceo Pascoli
2017: "Architecture & Space", Berlin, Workspace.de
2015: "Like a City", Bolzano, Babylon OPEN Atelier
2015: "Green Call", Cermes, Kränzelhof
2009: “Natura morta con autore”, Rome, American Academy, Milan, Assab One, Bologna, Spazio Sì
2008: “Quadrato d’arte. Ricordando Umberto Boccioni”, Catania, Galleria LIBRA
2007: “Ritratto di un quadro”, Catania, Galleria LIBRA
2005: “Alter Ego Eco”, Arco (Trento), Galleria Civica Atelier Segantini, curated by Giovanna Nicoletti
2003: “Flowers”, Bologna, Galleria Studio G7
2002: “Metapittura”, Merano, Merano Arte, with Daniele Bordoni and Flavio De Marco
2001: “Maler hören Mahler”, Mahler Weeks, Dobbiaco (Bolzano)
2000: “Officina 2000”, Ancona, Mole Vanvitelliana
1999: “Bologna-Bolzano”, Bolzano, Galleria Prisma, curated by Margareth Dorigatti
1998: “Limina”, Laives (Bz), Galleria La Goccia, Gubbio, Galleria Sadowski
1997: “Cocotte minute”, Paris, Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris III, first jury prize
1997: “Premio Zucchelli”, Bologna, Accademia di Belle Arti, winner
Special Projects:
2022: "Via Salis" as part of the exhibition dedicated to Ugo La Pietra, Centro Trevi Bolzano
2020: "MiM Munari in Movimento", exhibition of works by Bruno Munari and related projects in the area
2019: "Quale bellezza?", project in collaboration with Cittadellarte Fondazione Pistoletto hosting the Venus of the Rags, national guests, local partners
2017-2020: Macello co-working space, artists' atelier residents and guests in theatre, music, arts, and cultures opened with the three-year call "Serendipity", followed by "Periferia"
2014-2020: NoN festival, annual workshop on the border, starting from the Mendola Pass, reinhabiting disused spaces through art, theatre, music, events, projects
2010-2020: CRATere, a small review of art, theatre, and humanity, a festive-laboratory review of projects and productions
2012-2015: Babylon OPEN atelier, Bolzano, workshop of participatory cultures and arts, opening the theme of re-inhabiting abandoned spaces
2006-2010: Teatri di silenzio, in collaboration with Tihana Maravic, artistic theatre project with productions "ANNA", "Cuore di cane", "Parola", the seminar "aniMAle" at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, course on the Phenomenology of Contemporary Arts, "OUT/fuori" days dedicated to theatre in psychiatric contexts at the DMS University of Bologna and "La luce di dentro" on the same topic at Teatro Metastasio, Teatro Stabile di Toscana in Prato
2005: Genesi, Venice, Magazzini del Sale, events of music, theatre, poetry hosted within the exhibition
2004: Residency in Salzburg with a scholarship at the Künstlerhaus studio on the invitation of the municipality of Merano and the city of Salzburg
2002: “MONDI”, Bolzano, Centro culturale Claudio Trevi, exhibition and event curation of art, dance, and music during June and July
2001: "Vanitas. Reti per farfalle notturne", Maglione (Turin), Macam, fresco work created on the invitation of Letizia Corgnati
1999 - 2000: "Vanitas" (1999) "La gallina dalle uova d'oro" (2000), Bologna, Progetto Stazione, on the occasion of the commemoration of the massacre, curated by Mili Romano and Roberto Daolio
Publications:
2023: "Polis: fare comunità alla fine della civitas", ZeroSei Up
2022: "La scuola sconfinata", Fondazione Feltrinelli
2022: "Storie della buonanaotte", Fondazione Feltrinelli
2022: "E-MOTION: an Imaginative Variation", Springer
2022: "MiM Munari in Movimento", ZeroSei Up
2021: "Ecologia dello sguardo", ZeroSei Up
2020: "Crescere nel plurilinguismo", FrancoAngeli
2017: "IMAGE-ACTION Embodiment and Videographic Analysis", MDPI
2017: "Teatro dell'ospitalità", Cristallo
2016: "Embodied Education al centro di un nuovo paradigma: un contributo da arte e teatro per un interfaccia multimodale", Educazione & Insegnamento
2015: "Educare come architettura", Turris Babel
2011: “Bunuel nel deserto” in “Rifrazioni. Dal cinema all’oltre”, Bologna
2011: “Candida mente. Il faut cultiver notre jardin”, in “Fillide, il sublime rovesciato”, Bolzano
2010: “Il fine giustifica l’arte?”, in “Educare allo sguardo” Milan, Accademia di Brera edition, curated by Gisella Vismara
2008: “Genesi dello sguardo”, in the volume with the proceedings of the conference at Libera Università of Bolzano, curated by Barbara Ritter
2008: “Luci della sera. Bartleby e Koistinen. Itinerario tra Rovatti e Kaurismaki”, “Carte di cinema”, Bologna
2007: “Terzo Paradiso”, conversation with Michelangelo Pistoletto, “Meta”, Merano
2007: “White Diamond. Concrete utopie”, on Werner Herzog, “