Water and Ice
From March 20th to April 10th, 2026, some prints and an unreleased video from the “Water and Ice” series by artist Pietro Gardoni will be exhibited at the entrance of Manerbio hospital.
Exhibition Abstract
"Water and Ice" is a project by artist Pietro Gardoni, started in the early months of 2021 and developed over the years as a constantly evolving visual research.
Physically entering the frozen streams and rivers of the Alpine arc with his video camera, the artist explores these extreme environments in search of small fragments of landscape. The goal is not to document the territory, but to isolate minimal details — water movements, ice surfaces, reflections, and transparencies — transforming them into images of strong aesthetic value. Each shot thus becomes a kind of moving painting, in which water emerges as an essential symbol of life and hope.
The first video in the series was presented in 2023 at Columbia University in New York during the World Water Film Festival. In the same year, the project was presented at MUSE – Trento Science Museum during World Water Day.
In the summer of 2023, an installation consisting of three videos, with a soundtrack by Silvio Uboldi, was presented at Musil – Hydroelectric Energy Museum in Cedegolo. Subsequently, the project became part of the museum's permanent exhibition, in the Sala delle Sfere (Hall of Spheres) which introduces the visit, with a version accompanied by a soundtrack by Luca Formentini.
In 2024, one of the works from the series was projected onto a snow wall in Edmonton, Canada, and subsequently presented in France and the United Kingdom.
The project, which has become one of the cardinal points of the artist's research, is still ongoing and will continue to develop through new soundtracks, further installation forms, and a series of limited edition artist's books.
These images, filmed last winter, are now exhibited at the entrance of Manerbio hospital with the hope that they can offer patients and visitors a small sign of hope.
Statement from Musil Director
MUSIL Foundation strongly supports Pietro Gardoni's artistic journey, aimed at reawakening people's sensitivity to the beauty of nature. Water was an abundant resource, it no longer is — it was and remains a source of wonder and life, as these affectionate works help us to keep in mind and in our senses.
René Capovin, Director of Musil
Statement from the General Director of ASST Garda
Manerbio Hospital and the Mella river share a silent but profound history, made of geographical and symbolic proximity. The Mella, with its continuous flow, has always represented a vital resource for the surrounding territory.
Similarly, the hospital is configured as a place of care, where life is protected, regenerated, and supported every day.
Water therefore becomes a metaphor for life, but also for collective responsibility.
Like flowing water, medicine is also based on a principle of continuity: intervening, rebalancing, restoring well-being.
Water thus becomes a symbolic element that unites nature and science. It evokes
purification, rebirth, but also responsibility. Water today in all its sources is to
be considered a limited and precious resource and challenges the balance of entire territories, just as human health can be compromised if not carefully protected.
Within an exhibition dedicated to water, an essential symbol of life and hope, this connection takes on an even more significant value.
Roberta Chiesa, General Director of ASST Garda