Opening of the Photography Exhibition by Rachele Maistrello for Zenato Academy - Milano Centrale Festival
In Milan from October 4 to 6, 2024, on the occasion of the Milano Centrale Festival
The photographic exhibition "Rosa Sentinella" by Rachele Maistrello
A project by Zenato Academy
The exhibition will move to Lake Garda on October 11 for ArtVerona
On Friday, October 4, 2024, the photographic exhibition "Rosa Sentinella" by Rachele Maistrello will open in Milan. This international project by Zenato Academy is an initiative of the Veneto wine company aimed at promoting a new reflection on the culture of wine, the land, and traditions. It serves as a creative laboratory where young artists and the corporate world engage in a virtuous dialogue, fostering synergies, relationships, and exchanges.
The exhibition is part of the Milano Centrale Festival, a contemporary art event that stretches from the Central Station along the Naviglio Martesana, taking place from October 4 to 6, 2024.
On October 11, on the occasion of ArtVerona, the exhibition will be set up at Zenato's Estate in Peschiera del Garda, where artist Rachele Maistrello will participate in a public event (7:00 PM, by registration at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
In the "Rosa Sentinella" exhibition, Rachele Maistrello plays with the spaces of the Zenato winery, transforming it into a playground for her small cardboard "wonders." In this series of analog photographs, simple forms such as cherries, beads, crystal bridges, and oversized shells appear among the wine production tools, in a purple hue reminiscent of the grapes that define Zenato, where the artist was in residence in 2023.
“The shapes we see in the photographs are symbolic forms, visual alphabets of suggestions,” says the artist, “which I collected at the Zenato estates in Peschiera del Garda and Valpolicella. The shell refers to the identity of the Lugana wine territory, produced in the lower Garda area on land left behind by the last glaciers. The geometric figures, on the other hand, evoke more abstract concepts, such as family ties; the jewels reference alchemical transformation, while gestures and words on paper are visual and poetic translations of scientific concepts related to the winemaking process.”
Indeed, the enological laboratory, with its stills, scales, computers, and litmus paper, becomes the alchemical place where the artist’s cardboard diamonds sparkle.
“It was exciting to challenge ourselves, to reveal the more personal aspects of our work, and to accept being explored by a deep gaze capable of capturing nuanced details and seeing our spaces in a different way,” says Nadia Zenato, owner of the Veneto winery renowned for its Lugana and Valpolicella red wines, particularly Amarone.
“The artistic research of Rachele Maistrello fits perfectly within the framework of the Milano Centrale Festival,” explains Luca Panaro, artistic director of Zenato Academy, “as it reflects one of the main tendencies of contemporary photography and the Festival itself: the creation of site-specific works. Unlike other commissioned projects where the artist is invited to reinterpret a company's image, in this case, it is the company that enters the artist's work.”
The title of the project refers to the tradition of the "sentinel rose": in the past, a rose was planted at the head of the vineyard rows because it would show the first signs of any diseases that might affect the vines.
The exhibition is accompanied by the artist's book Rosa Sentinella, curated by Luca Panaro, Zenato Academy 2024.
A preview of the "Rosa Sentinella" exhibition was presented at Vinitaly, the world’s largest wine fair, and after its display at the Milano Centrale Festival, it will be set up at the Zenato Estate in Peschiera del Garda for ArtVerona 2024.
Rachele Maistrello (b. 1986) is an Italian artist. She studied at IUAV University of Venice, the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in Zurich.
Zenato Academy is a cultural project of the winery founded by Sergio Zenato in 1960, established as a permanent laboratory for study and experimentation in the cultural field, particularly in photography.
After the four-year experience of Vino. Beyond Objects/The Landscape/The Portrait/Photography, which saw the participation of students from four international photography schools (the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, the F/16 school in Berlin, FMAV in Modena, and the School of Visual Art in New York), 2024 marks a new phase for Zenato Academy’s international project, involving individual artists under 40, who are given complete freedom to represent the values they perceive while experiencing the reality of the winery.
Milano Centrale Festival
The Milano Centrale Festival is a contemporary art event where artworks become tools for discovering the territory. The fully bikeable route starts from the Central Station, passing through via Melchiorre Gioia, Maggiolina, and Ponte Seveso, continuing through Greco, Turro, and Gorla, and follows the course of the Naviglio Martesana to Ponte Nuovo, allowing visitors to discover hidden parts of Milan, visit normally inaccessible or unknown spaces, and reflect on the territory from unusual perspectives.
Sixteen spaces are involved in the festival, hosting solo exhibitions, installations, photography, cinema, and video art exhibitions, nighttime projections, talks, and guided tours to explore the neighborhoods. From Gabriele Basilico's photographs exploring changes in places like the Central Station, to Paolo Ventura's reinterpretations of the Martesana landscape, to Rachele Maistrello's photography exhibition, and Cioni Carpi's experimental films.
Where: Milan, various locations, Central Station/Martesana area - Curated by Chippendale Studio
When: October 4-5-6, 2024 – 3:00 PM-8:00 PM
Opening: October 4 at 6:00 PM, Biblioteca di Morando - Cineteca Milano, via Tofane 49
Free Admission
Information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - www.centralefestival.com
Zenato Winery - Via San Benedetto, 8 Peschiera del Garda (VR)
