Walter Niedermayr: Coexistences

The Valley Community of Fiemme, a union of eleven municipalities in the Trentino-Alto Adige region, takes up a exceptional position due to the administrative autonomy and own jurisdiction established in the 12th century. For centuries, the most important economic and social decisions were made together via an administration structure similar to that of a peasant quasi-republic. This legal framework has given rise to specific morphologies of the villages with urban-style edifices and a high spatial density, hybrid house conglomerates and multidimensionally used structures.

The South Tyrolean artist Walter Niedermayr has been studying and photographing the specific building culture in the Fiemme Valley for many years. Based on his extensive research project the exhibition paints a detailed picture of this unique valley and its urbanesque village structures. Furthermore, the exhibition also raises a much more general question as to what extent the historically founded tradition of the Allmende could be a way to sustainably develop the landscape based on the ‘spirit of the commons’, especially in the small-scale cultural and economic area in the Alps.