What is the best thing that I love about my work? The things that I love the most about my work are probably meeting people and talking with them, seeing new things or seeing the same things from different perspectives, being inspired and surprised by something I don’t know yet.
What is my idea of happiness? I would like to reply to have enough time to nurture all your passions and loves but probably happiness doesn’t exist, it is a never ending research that can be good in itself.
What is my greatest fear? Not being good enough in the situations I’m going to experience in life and work (see also next question).
What is the trait that I most deplore in myself? My insecurity: on one hand it causes a great waste of time and energy, on the other, however, it works as a good tool to consider all the sides of the same thing.
Which living persons in my profession do I most admire? Simple people, without famous names, who work with passion in the shade to achieve their dreams.
What is my greatest extravagance? I don’t have one, I think I am quite a boring person.
On what occasion would I lie? Just when it would be the only way to save or achieve a more important goal, a new level of honesty.
What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work? When I am forced to do something I don’t want to do, in a way imposed from the outside or from other people. When the work turns stupid, barren or not-enriching for my formation. It happens sometimes…
If I could, what would I change about myself? Despite all my flaws I would take the whole package that makes me just myself.
What is my greatest achievement in work? I see the path and not necessarily the impermanent goals, so I hope the path I am following is already part of a whole achievement.
Where would I most like to live? I like to live right in the place I still live. I like this small city in the North of Italy in the middle of the Alps, far from the chaos but close to Austria, Germany and important Italian cities like Milan, Venice and Bologna.
What is my most treasured possession? None, I love all the things I have around but I also know that unfortunately, everything will pass by sooner or later…
What is my most marked characteristic? Again, insecurity, or, in other worlds, restlessness, maybe this is a more positive way to say the same thing.
What is my most inspirational location, in my city? It is probably the area of the hills in the east side of the Adige Valley in Trento. I like to have walks in those rising streets and look down the beautiful landscape which is a mix of nature and human constructions.
What books influenced my life and how? When I was young La coscienza di Zeno by Italo Svevo, it opened my mind about the possibilities of creativity and storytelling. Then, I am also very grateful to the narrative works by Hermann Hesse and the art criticism of Rosalind Krauss: two completely different ways to weave the canvas of culture, putting together various things that seem incongruous at the first sight but with unexpected similarities that just need to be expressed.
You Only Die Once. What music would I listen on my last day? Definitely something by King Crimson. If I have to choose one song it would be Fracture from Starless and Bible Back album. For me, it is the most complete, enjoyable and complex song from the XX century.
Who is my hero or heroine in fiction? The character John Dorian (Zach Braff), from Scrubs TV series.
Who are my heroes and heroines in real life? Long list… let’s say Germano Celant, the great Italian art curator who recently died.
Which movie would I recommend to see once in a lifetime? La La Land by Damien Chazelle (this is a pop and romantic choice).
What role plays art in my life and work? Art, in the wide sense of the word, is quite everything in my life, it gives me rest, peace, emotions, inspiration and power!
What do the words ‘You are the storyteller of your own life’ to me? To me It means that you don’t always really have complete control of what happens to you, but you have to think and act as if you did. Furthermore, these words make me think that not only you have to do important things, you also have to be good at communicating what you did. Also, it means that every life deserves to be told.
Who is my greatest fan, sponsor, partner in crime? My greatest partners in crime are the visual artists with whom I collaborate to create new artistic projects or cultural products, they are my real “accomplices”. I watch over their things and progresses and they do the same about me!
What project, in 2021, am I looking forward to work on? Except exhibition projects I am working on a long essay about the meaning of surface and flatness in the art and culture of the XX century. I’ve been working on it for all 2020 and I hope to manage to finish it and, hopefully, also find a publisher in 2021.
Where can you see me or my work in 2021? You will see a handful of exhibitions curated by me in different art galleries. The schedule is not fixed yet due to Covid emergency but during the first half of 2021 there will be a travelling exhibition about Landscape in Trento (Paolo Maria Deanesi Gallery), Milan (Area35 Art Gallery) and Turin (CRAG Gallery). I also have a pending group-exhibition project titled “There’s a World Going on Underground” at the Kunsthalle West Lana (BZ); you will see it in the Spring of 2021.
What do the words “Passion Never Retires” mean to me? Something beautiful that excites me but also scares me: will I be able to keep my passions fresh and productive for all my life? What will change and what kind of person will I be in ten years, for example? Nobody knows, let’s live and see what happens…
Which creative heroes should Peter invite to tell their story? Giovanni Pasini, Igor Molin, Giacomo Modolo, Thomas Scalco, Elisa Grezzani, Debora Fella, Cecilia Borettaz, Jessica Bianchera, Bianca Basile, Mirijam Heiler.
How can you contact me?
You can find me on facebook (gabriele.salvaterra), instagram (@gabrioart) or tumblr with a selection of my
personal projects at https://gabrielesalvaterra.tumblr.com/.