LA MONTAGNA IN SCENA A MILANO CON “MOUNTAIN ECHOES” by Yuval Avital, Bagni Misteriosi, Franco Parenti Theatre

Three large sound sculptures by Yuval Avital feature voices and sounds recorded at 25 locations in Valtellina, involving over 500 local people. Bagni Misteriosi also hosts the multimedia exhibition Mountain Echoes: lo sguardo dell’artista

After Sondrio, Bormio and Tirano, now at Milan:
from April 13th to April 26th, 2026
Bagni Misteriosi of Franco Parenti Theatre, Milan

opening: Monday, April 23rd, 2026, from 7.30PM to 10.00PM
entrance: 5,00€ – tickets: http://www.teatrofrancoparenti.it/
visiting hours: Thursday and Friday, from 4.00PM to 8.00PM; Saturday and Sunday, from 10.00AM to 2.00 PM and from 4.00PM to 8.00PM

The three Montagne Umane of MOUNTAIN ECHOES are coming to Milan from April 13 to 26, 2026. After mobilizing entire Alpine communities and capturing the attention of the national press with its unique anthropological approach, Yuval Avital’s MOUNTAIN ECHOES di Yuval Avital – Le voci e i suoni della Valtellina in sculture sonore—is coming to the heart of Milan. This choral work was the protagonist—during the Olympic and Paralympic Games—of a “widespread installation” in Valtellina, in Sondrio, Bormio, and Tirano. Now, the three large anthropomorphic sound sculptures by multidisciplinary artist Yuval Avital are reunited for the first time in a single venue: Bagni Misteriosi at the Franco Parenti Theatre, accompanied by the multimedia exhibition: MOUNTAIN ECHOES in Valtellina: lo sguardo dell’artista.

Conceived and produced by Comitato CULTURA + IMPRESA together with Yuval Avital, and considered one of the best projects of the Regione Lombardia’s “Giochi della Cultura”, MOUNTAIN ECHOES represents one of the cultural legacies of the Milano Cortina 2026, Winter Olympic Games and it is made possible by the participation of a network of local institutions and businesses, including Provincia di Sondrio, BPER, and Tessuti di Sondrio – Marzotto Lab. Now it brings to Milan the presentation of the immense archive of sound, photographs, and videos collected by the artist among the valleys and summits of Valtellina to share it during one of the moments of greatest international visibility: during Milan Art Week and Milan Design Week.

“With this installation, we are celebrating the identity, stories, and values of one of Lombardy’s ‘Olympic’ regions” says Francesco Moneta, President of Comitato CULTURA + IMPRESA. “We are bringing the mountains to the city to highlight the landscape around us through contemporary art and share it with a large international audience. The installation in Milan is the second part of a project that aims to tell the history and stories of the Italian mountains.”

The three monumental artworks are covered with 691 meters of locally resin-coated fabric. Inside them, 476 audio recordings collected from 25 different locations, creating a fully immersive sound experience. “The more I learn about the culture of the Italian mountains, the more I realize that in these territories, the mountains are not merely a backdrop, but a living presence that shapes work, connections, memory, and identity. In Valtellina, this awareness has taken on a particularly intense and intimate form for me, made of respect for nature, stories, myths, and shared memory“, explains artist Yuval Avital.

Some numbers from MOUNTAIN ECHOES
• 25 recording locations, including bells from the church of San Giorgio in Cino, the howl of a wolf in
the Stelvio National Park, and dialect stories collected in Albosaggia;
• 476 audio recordings, totaling 34 hours and 37 minutes;
• over 500 people involved, including citizens, artisans, students, and local associations;
• 603 photographs selected from field research;
• 20 partner organizations and institutions and 18 professionals involved in artistic and technical production and
communication.

The project’s content is summarized in the Map of Sounds, Voices, and Places of Valtellina, which can also be downloaded from the website www.mountainechoes.it

The story, from its origins in Valtellina to the city
The journey of MOUNTAIN ECHOES began with an artist residency (October–December 2025) in which Avital met memory keepers, artisans, shepherds capturing almost extinct languages, ancient gestures and natural sounds. Supported by ten local ‘Virgili’, the artist transformed the collection into a living archive, where each sound is a testimony to history and the interaction between the community and the mountains.

The three sound sculptures, totemic figures made of local resin-coated fabrics, combine art, technology, and tradition. Inside, they house diffusion systems and loudspeakers that reproduce three layered compositions, giving life to a choral acoustic landscape. The project thus becomes a place for listening, contemplation, and connection between past and present, between tradition and contemporary language.

Each sculpture of MOUNTAIN ECHOES is an immersive experience that invites the public to participate in listening, between poetry and reality. The first work Montagna Umana was born from the cava di Bagnada and the everyday sounds of the valley, where drops of water, bells, voices in the local dialect, and farmers’ gestures intertwine tradition and memory. The second follows recognizable paths such as the Trenino Rosso di Tirano and stages the community as a creative body, with choirs, fairy tales, rituals, and traditional crafts that interact with the natural environment, transforming everyday life into poetic material; the third focuses on the strength of the territory in a choral and vertical experience, in which local choirs, the organ of the church of Bormio, traditional crafts, and the stories of miners and shepherds restore the mountain in all its complexity, between beauty, risk, and responsibility.

The project reached its first major milestone in January 2026 with the inaugurations held in the three symbolic municipalities: Sondrio (Palazzo Lambertenghi), Bormio (Civic Museum), and Tirano (Palazzo Foppoli). On that occasion, the community actively participated with the players of the corno grosino, the Alpini of Tirano, the Compagnia di Mat of Bormio, the children of Albosaggia with the ritual of “chiamata dell’erba,” and the students of Tirano with the “Tirà li tòli.”

Today, that same energy is moving to Milan. Valtellina is becoming an “ambassador” for the values of the Lombardy mountains, bringing a lasting cultural contribution to the heart of the international design scene that reduces geographical distances through art.

A widespread work, a return to the community
MOUNTAIN ECHOES is a widespread cultural itinerary that crosses Valtellina from the foot of the valley to the high mountains, connecting different and complementary places, architectural styles, and communities. Alongside the sculptures, the photographic and multimedia exhibition ‘Mountain Echoes in Valtellina: lo sguardo dell’artista” will also be on view in Milan. A selection of photographs taken by the artist during the project’s development, documents the relational journey underlying the sound collection, offering a fresh perspective on the region and its people.