The aim is to present Mendrisiotto and Lower Ceresio to the general public in an increasingly usable and captivating way, accompanying them in the discovery of places, traditions, food and wine, UNESCO heritage and culture.

The cultural offer has gradually expanded over the years:

  • the Fossil Museum of Monte San Giorgio,
  • the Archaeological Park of Tremona,
  • the Transparent Museum
  • the candidacy dossier of the Processions to the list of intangible cultural heritages,
  • the Arzo quarries,
  • the path of concrete,
  • the MEVM,
  • the max museum,
  • the Theater of Architecture ...

"The development of interest in street art and urban art - said Nadia Fontana-Lupi, director of OTRMBC - underlines how intriguing it is for a region like ours that has hosted and hosts artists and a cultural offer of great merit. The triennial of Maroggia has been very successful and, considering how in Mendrisiotto and Lower Ceresio there are private and public partners who are developing interesting projects in this area, such as Artrust, ECSA Group and the Parco delle Gole della Breggia, we wish to collaborate with them to promote the works that will be created. The idea could be to create an itinerary to propose to visit the territory and discover an open-air “museum” that could be extended to the region. A theme which we will certainly return to talk about ».

"We strongly believe in the value of Street Art as an inclusive, democratic art form, capable of speaking to everyone across the board, without generational distinctions". Added Patrizia Cattaneo Moresi, Director of the Artrust art gallery. “In recent years, as a gallery, we have tried with our means to promote urban art projects as much as possible on our territory, also involving local authorities. After the success of the Triennale di Maroggia we are happy to renew the collaboration with the regional tourism organization for the launch of two new projects: a call for young emerging artists promoted in collaboration with the ECSA Group and the creation of a mural at the entrance to the Parco delle Gole della Breggia, involving a name now known throughout Europe, and beyond, such as Andrea Ravo Mattoni ».

Andrea Ravo Mattoni at the Breggia Gorge Park with Pier Francesco Mola

In September, the well-known Italian-Swiss street artist Andrea Ravo Mattoni ( Archive image ) – after having already contributed with one of his works to the 2021 Maroggia Triennale – will once again be the protagonist in Mendrisiotto, with a new mural created in the context of the Breggia Gorges Park.

The project - developed in collaboration with Artrust - involves an intervention on the wall that runs along the tunnel that today connects the public parking of the Park to the area of ​​the former SACEBA cement factory.

"As part of a progressive redevelopment of the Park area - says Andrea Stella, Director of the Breggia Gorge Park - we have identified Andrea Ravo Mattoni as the ideal artist for the creation of a mural that could become a sort of business card for visitors arriving at the park and which, at the same time, was in line with our educational mission: the idea is in fact to involve young artists in the area in a small Street Art project in the future. " .

The subject of Ravo's work will be the masterpiece of Pier Francesco Mola - an artist of Ticino origins - “Socrates teaches young people self-knowledge”, a painting dating back to around 1.660, preserved today inside Villa Ciani in Lugano.

"As always in my artistic career, this project also acts as a bridge not only between the art of the past and contemporary art, but also between the territory and museum institutions - adds Andrea Ravo Mattoni - After a very long gestation, also due to limitations of the pandemic that has caused its execution to be postponed several times, I am very happy that this work can finally see the light and I am proud to return to Ticino with a work of this depth, by a great artist who, among other things, was born in Coldrerio, a stone's throw from here ».

“Back to Human Contact”, the competition announcement for emerging writers promoted by the ECSA Group

The ECSA Group - active in the supply of petroleum products, chemical raw materials and articles for all industrial needs (lubricants, safety devices at work, paint materials, etc.) - in collaboration with the Artrust art gallery, has instead promoted a competition announcement dedicated to emerging writers and street artists for the creation of three murals at their headquarters in Via Luigi Favre in Balerna.

The notice is aimed at selecting three design ideas for the realization of as many works to be carried out on the external walls that delimit the headquarters of the Group.

"We have decided to launch this call to give space and support to emerging artists in the field of writing, graffiti or other forms of urban art - says Luca Zingone CMO of ECSA Group - To do this we have made available these spaces of ours, located in front of the railway, and therefore able to guarantee high visibility to the works, once they are completed ».

«The ECSA Group and the world of art have a long-lasting relationship that has its roots in its more than 100 years of history. Having the opportunity to make this passion an opportunity for creative expression for young artists makes us very proud »continues Luca Zingone.

The title and theme of the call is "Back to Human Contact": "We will ask participants to propose projects that they can tell us, in the forms that each of them deems most appropriate, - adds Zingone - the theme of human contact rediscovered after the pandemic period and its importance in relationships between people. We like the idea of ​​“carving” on the walls of our company a piece of history that has marked everyone's lives ».

Participation in the call is open to artists of any nationality or origin. Applications must be received by July 30, 2022, exclusively through the application form published at street-art-ecsa.ch (where all the details and complete rules of the call are also published).

The projects received will then be examined by a jury who will select the three winners, who in addition to being able to carry out their work - in the months of September and October - will also receive a cash prize of 2 francs.

Among the members of the jury, the established duo of Ticino street artists Nevercrew, Christian Rebecchi and Pablo Togni. Next to them Luca Zingone, CMO of ECSA Group, Patrizia Cattaneo Moresi, Director of Artrust SA, Enrico Centonze, Artistic Director of the Grimmuseum of Berlin and Nicholas Felappi, Head of the Culture Department of the Municipality of Balerna.