Veneto: al posto di un caffè liberty di Recoaro Terme apre un centro d’arte contemporanea. Intervista alla curatrice
The historic Palazzo Caffè Nazionale in Recoaro Terme, a small spa town in the Veneto region of Italy, is being transformed into a contemporary art center called Cantiere del Contemporaneo, set to open on May 2, 2026. The project, curated by Elisabetta Bacchin, will focus on artist residencies, with the inaugural group including Romesh Bothalage, Pietro Chiarello, Francesco Pizzocchero, and Virginia Stevenin, who will work for two months in the converted spaces. The initiative is part of a broader regeneration plan funded by the National Plan for Borghi and the European Union's PNRR funds, aiming to revitalize the town's cultural and economic identity through contemporary art.
This matters because it represents a strategic use of art and culture to combat rural depopulation and economic decline, leveraging the town's historic architecture and natural resources—particularly its thermal waters—as a catalyst for renewal. By embedding artist residencies within a historic building and linking them to local themes like water, landscape, and memory, the project offers a model for small-town cultural regeneration that could inspire similar efforts across Italy and beyond. The creation of a local contemporary art collection and the planned open calls for emerging artists also signal a long-term commitment to sustaining the area's cultural ecosystem.