CALAMITA/À. An investigation into the Vajont catastrophe

On the night of 9 October 1963, 270 million cubic metres of rock, earth and detritus detached from the slopes of Monte Toc to which they had been clinging since prehistoric times. A gigantic landslide, over two kilometres long and one of the most destructive in human history, fell into the lake formed by the damming of the Vajont River. The water exceeded the safety limit of the reservoir, sweeping away the surrounding towns and villages: an enormous wave of 60 million cubic metres of water and mud overtopped the dam and poured onto the valley floor. According to the estimates in the expert’s reports submitted in the court proceedings the energy of the shockwave produced by the blast and by the abnormal mass of water channelled into the valley of the Piave was equivalent to two atomic bombs of the kind dropped on Hiroshima, or around 40 kilotons of TNT. The dam, completed in 1959 and at the time the tallest in the world, suffered no major damage. The valley of the Piave was transformed into a dismal lunar landscape, an immense mass of mud and debris. Nothing and no one was able to resist the fury of the catastrophe. The power of the blast and the flooding destroyed numerous villages, killing around two thousand people.

CALAMITA/À involved more than fifty authors and researchers asking them to reflect on the topics of the representation of the catastrophe. This happened with site specific projects and by promoting critical thinking on issues such as: the transformation of the landscape, the exploitation of energy resources, the relationship between man, nature and power, the social marginalization of minorities and individual and collective identity.

The project is possible thanks to the support of Provincia di Treviso and with the collaboration of FAST – Foto Archivio Storico Trevigiano della Provincia / The project is supported by Strategia Fotografia 2023, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture.

ARTISTS
Céline Clanet
François Deladerriere
Petra Stavast
Jan Stradtmann
Gianpaolo Arena
Marina Caneve

ESSAYS by
Olga Smith
Alessandra Prandin
Marcelline Delbecq
Perrine Lamy-Quique
Roberta Agnese
Eugénie Shinkle
Gianpaolo Arena and Marina Caneve