XXVII Annual Award, 2016. In Treviso, the Carlo Scarpa Prize. The wild apple forests of the Tien Shan. Friday 13 and Saturday 14 May,

Source: Benetton Studi e Ricerche press office

The main public study and awareness-raising events of the 27th Carlo Scarpa International Prize for Gardens, the “prize for a site” promoted and organized every year since 1990 by the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, will take place in Treviso in the second weekend in May.
In 2016 it is awarded to The wild apple forests of the Tien Shan, in the “Celestial Mountains” of Kazakhstan, a place of extraordinary biodiversity.

Scholars and others who have visited the site will speak at the various public events planned for Friday 13 May and Saturday 14 May at the Benetton Foundation’s Spazi Bomben and at the
Teatro Comunale Mario del Monaco, Treviso: a public meeting and concert for the opening of the documentary and photographic exhibition; a public study seminar on the site and its context;
the public prize-giving ceremony.

The wild apple forests of the Tien Shan in Central Asia, on its eastern borders, are now fragments of an immense, ancient forest in which, millions of years ago, in the Tertiary period, dozens of
species grew that are the origin of the fruit that has accompanied the history of mankind. The earliest precursors of the apple tree probably arrived there by means of seeds carried by birds flying
from China.

They brought a natural variability that the great environmental diversity of the Tien Shan strongly increased and, despite thousands of years of deforestation and fires, mainly to create space for
agriculture, its incredible biodiversity is still evident today, expressed by the shapes, sizes, flavours, colours, heights and behaviours of the trees. It represents a genetic deposit of
inestimable interest, open to studies and research that are still at their beginnings and concern the future of apple growing and its landscape.

The wild apple tree of Kazakhstan is the Malus sieversii, which takes its name from the botanist Johann Sievers, who at the end of the eighteenth century was the first to discover
it. It is the most representative wild fruit species in the forests of the Tien Shan.

Programme

Friday 13 May, 6 pm
Treviso, Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, Spazi Bomben
Public meeting and concert for the inauguration of the documentary and photographic exhibition
Music “from the ancient silk roads”: Siamak Guran (oriental lutes – tambûr, setâr, târ -, percussion – daf, tombak – and
voice) and Pino Petraccia (daf and percussion); readings by Isabella Panfido.

The exhibition describes the wild apple forests of the Tien Shan with photographs and a documentary film by Catherine Peix. It explains their historical and geographical context and includes
questions posited by these places, pointing out the fragility that they now share with man’s culture and his relationship with the land. The exhibition will be held in the Fondazione’s
headquarters, in the exhibition rooms of the Palazzo Bomben, until Sunday 3 July (Tuesday to Friday, 3-8 pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 10 am to 8 pm, free entrance).

Saturday 14 May, 9.30am-1.30pm

Treviso, Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, Auditorium Spazi Bomben
Public study seminar on the Prize-winning site and its context
This is an opportunity, provided by a group of experts from different disciplines, to get to know the site and its history, its natural and cultural idiosyncrasies, the historical-geographical
context and the connections with contemporary problems regarding agronomic, landscape, biological and ecological aspects.
Introduction and coordination by Patrizia Boschiero and Luigi Latini
Catherine Peix (Alma Association, Paris), In the wild apple forests of the Tien Shan:
the places, the trees, the animals in history and the culture
Tatiana Salova (agronomist, Bolshoe Isakovo, Russia), The human and scientific story
of Aimak Dzangaliev (1913-2009)
Natalya Ogar (Academy of Sciences, Almaty), The Tien Shan mountain system
in the historic, geographical and landscape context of Kazakhstan
Joan Vicente i Rufí (Universitat de Girona), The silk roads as a geopolitical factor:
past, present and future
Évelyne Leterme (Conservatoire Végétal Régional d’Aquitaine), The meeting
of agriculture, ecology and biodiversity. Apple growing in France
Massimo Tagliavini (Libera Università di Bolzano), Intensive apple cultivation:
balancing profitability with ecological sustainability
Ann Tutwiler (Bioversity International), Natural and cultural biodiversity.
International policies and experiences
Giuseppe Barbera (Università di Palermo), Apple tree landscapes
The Foundation’s Scientific Committee will also be taking part. The discussion will be open to the public.

Saturday 14 May, 5 pm
Treviso, Teatro Comunale Mario Del Monaco
Public ceremony for presentation of theCarlo Scarpa Prize

Introduction and coordination by Luigi Latini (chairman of the Scientific Committee).
The ceremony includes a screening of the Italian edition of Catherine Peix’s documentary film, Les origines de la pomme ou “le jardin d’Eden retrouvé”, a reading of the Prize
Citation and presentation of the seal designed by Carlo Scarpa to the Kazakh scholar Natalya Ogar, a symbol of recognition for the commitment and care devoted to the
designated site; followed by speeches given by Catherine Peix and Tatiana Salova.
The dossier on The wild apple forests of the Tien Shan, edited by Giuseppe Barbera, Patrizia Boschiero, Luigi Latini, with
Catherine Peix, published by the Foundation in Italian and English, will also be presented.
The ceremony will end with music “from the ancient silk roads”, performed on traditional instruments by Siamak Guran (lutes and voice) and Pino Petraccia
(percussion), followed by a toast.
The awareness-raising campaign will continue with other public events throughout the year, also in Kazakhstan, in the Almaty region, and with meetings specifically dedicated to schools.

Information: the meetings are all public and entrance is free. The seminar on the morning of Saturday 14 will be streamed on the Foundation’s site; for organizational reasons, we ask you
to indicate your intention to take part, possibly by Monday 9 May, using the form available on the website www.fbsr.it or by contacting the secretarial office (Monday to Friday, 9 am-1 pm and 2-6
pm, tel. +39.0422.5121, fax +39.0422.579483, fbsr@fbsr.it).

The Foundation’s Scientific Committee and coordination of the Prize:
Maria Teresa Andresen, Universidade do Porto; Giuseppe Barbera, Università di Palermo;
Hervé Brunon, André Chastel Centre, Paris; Anna Lambertini, Università di Firenze;
Luigi Latini, Università Iuav di Venezia (chairman); Monique Mosser, Ecole Nationale
Supérieure d’Architecture de Versailles; Joan Nogué, Universitat de Girona;
Lionello Puppi, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia; José Tito Rojo, Universitat de Granada;
Massimo Venturi Ferriolo, Politecnico di Milano.
Honorary members: Carmen Añón, Universitat de Madrid; Domenico Luciani, founder
and director of the Prize from 1990 to 2014; Thomas Wright, London University.
The activities of the Carlo Scarpa Prize are coordinated by Patrizia Boschiero
and the chairman of the Scientific Committee, Luigi Latini.

Cultural event supported by: Bioversity International, Ministry of Cultural Heritage
and Activities and of Tourism, Veneto Region, Treviso City.