MOUNTAIN ECHOES by Yuval Avital

Three large sound sculptures by Yuval Avital broadcast voices and sounds collected in 25 locations in Valtellina with 476 audio recordings, involving over 500 local people.

From January 23rd to March 15th, 2026:
Sondrio, the terrace of Palazzo Lambertenghi, in Piazza Garibaldi
Bormio, Giardino del Tempo of the Civic Museum
Tirano, Courtyard of Palazzo Foppoli

From mid-April 2026:
Milan, Bagni Misteriosi of the Franco Parenti Theater

MOUNTAIN ECHOES by Yuval Avital – The voices and sounds of Valtellina in sound sculptures, a choral art project that transforms the territory, its communities, and its soundscapes into works of contemporary art. Conceived and created by the CULTURA + IMPRESA Committee together with multidisciplinary artist Yuval Avital, MOUNTAIN ECHOES is one of the most important projects selected by Regione Lombardia as part of the Culture Games. It is part of the program of the Cultural Olympics of Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026, the widespread schedule that accompanies the Games by promoting Olympic values through art, culture, and the territory.

A widespread work, a return to the community
MOUNTAIN ECHOES is a widespread cultural journey that crosses the Valtellina from the foot of the valley to the high mountains, connecting different and complementary places, architectures, and communities. The works are an iconic return to the community that contributed to their creation and will be freely accessible in Valtellina until March 15, 2026. The three sound sculptures are accompanied by the widespread photographic exhibition Mountain Echoes in Valtellina: lo sguardo dell’artista, a selection of photographs taken by the artist during the ‘making of’ of the project, documenting the relational journey behind the sound collection, an unprecedented look at the territory and the people who define its identity.

The mountain as source, voice, and subject matter of the work
During his months of artistic residence in Valtellina (October-December 2025), Avital recorded memory keepers, artisans, shepherds, artists, schools, associations, and citizens of different generations, capturing almost extinct languages, ancient gestures, cowbells, dialect songs, and natural sounds such as wind, water, and native animals. 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.

From Valtellina to Milan
After its stop in Valtellina, MOUNTAIN ECHOES will arrive in Milan—from mid- to late April 2026—at the Bagni Misteriosi of the Franco Parenti Theater, coinciding with Miart and Milan Design Week, bringing the voices of the Valtellina mountains—the “ambassador” of the Lombardy mountains—to the heart of the city during the period dedicated to design and art. The installation creates a bridge between alpine territories and the urban context, a lasting cultural contribution and heritage of the Milan Cortina 2026 Games.