Topolò, Europe. Topolò, Italian-Slovenian border

ita eng bhs

5 September 2023

Perhaps one of the most photographed places in Friuli in the last thirty years, during the 29 editions of Stazione Topolò-Postaja Topolove. How to represent it in images, after hundreds or perhaps thousands of shots have captured and narrated glimpses and suggestions, moments of art, experiences, and installations? This gallery retraces our reconnaissance in search of voices to recount that end and a new beginning, to glean crumbs of history from Caporetto to Gladio and Brussels, and show the faces, hands, gazes of the six protagonists of our audio report. Not so much to compose a portrait as to provide a few snapshots.

Photos by Antonio Senter. Composition by Paola Rosà

Listen to the audioreport in podcast

Entrances - A few hundred metres as the crow flies from the border with Slovenia, Topolò was a transit and exchange hub for centuries, until the Iron Curtain made it a frontier garrison. Above: the old guardhouse at the entrance to Italy going up from Caporetto/Kobarid and Tolmino/Tolmin in the Isonzo valley in Slovenia. On the other hand, from the Natisone valleys, in the province of Udine, the entrance to the village (photo below left) coincides with the end of the road that climbs from Cividale and Clodig, skirting the houses and flowing into a forest immediately after the church (photo bottom right)

Paint - Spots of colour on the plastered facades tell of renovations and new tenants, and preserve traces of the transformations brought about by the Station, which has used some places – physical but also imaginary – as embassies, others as airports, study institutes, synagogues

Gladio - In the village and in the Natisone valleys, the presence of the secret organisation born to counter communism has split families, divided friendships, forced people to emigrate: for the inhabitants of Topolò, Gladio is not just a chapter in the Cold War history book

Moreno Miorelli - After arriving in Friuli in search of stories and a place to carry out an art project outside the galleries, Moreno Miorelli became the engine of the Stazione-Postaja for 29 years. In 2022, the decision to close: "I wanted to be something else"

Antonella Bukovaz - A teacher at the bilingual school of San Pietro al Natisone, a poet, for years coordinator of the poetry section "Voices from the waiting room" of the Station, Antonella Bukovaz decided to resign as director of the association when Moreno left: " Let's leave room for other things"

Moreno and Antonella - They were married and had two daughters, and for years the Station was part of their lives, not just in July: "The Station never left you be, and fed you throughout the year"

The trunk - Built in 2001 by Ricardo Vivar near the cemetery, "el baul del los secretos", the trunk of secrets, collects messages, objects, rings, photographs, and recordings that the Chilean artist asked the inhabitants of the country to bequeath to the Topolucians of the future. “The response was unanimous, everyone put something in”, Moreno confirms

Donatella Ruttar - Architect, teacher, activist of Slovenian culture, for years alongside Moreno in the management of the Station, Donatella Ruttar conceived, designed, and coordinated the SMO project (Slovensko multimedialno okno - Slovenian multimedia window), the museum of landscapes and narratives of San Pietro at Natisone. The SMO project is part of the cross-border cooperation operational programme "Italy – Slovenia 2007-13" co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and national contributions

Vida Rucli - One of the voices of the Robida collective, Vida is one of the founders of the magazine the association is named after. In the Izba, the multifunctional space also open to the inhabitants, she introduced the performance by Japanese artist Yoichi Iwamoto at the end of the month-long residency in Topolò (photo above)

Aljaž Škrlep - Slovenian from Nova Gorica, member of the Robida collective, has lived in Topolò for five years and participates in land mapping projects together with architect Renzo Rucli (on the left in the photo below)

Dora Ciccone - She also studied in Rome but decided to return to Topolò, now she works at the multimedia museum of San Pietro al Natisone. "For some time my house didn't have a bathroom, but we learned to face the difficulties"

The salamander - On the signs indicating the paths, the salamander has become the symbol of Topolò. And you don't need to go into the woods to find them: to welcome us on our arrival, we saw two in the middle of the road

Horizons - Where the paved road ends, Topolò lies on the side of the mountain as if wrapped in a basin of woods and wild cherry trees. All around, the ridge of Monte San Martino and the profile of Kolovrat/Colovrat with the trenches of the Great War. Horizons that Topolò still wants to cross