In Context
- FREE ENTRY
- Reservation required
Runkelstein Castle, Tournament Hall
Kaiser Franz Josef Way
39100 Bolzano
The inherited gaze: readings of images between medieval fresco and contemporary art
People, images, landscapes: customs and traditions shape our perceptions. They generate clichés, set standards, and assign us our “proper” place. But what about the images behind the images? Is what we see always “true”? How do we deal with the endless spiral of multiple layers of interpretation, individual associations, and emotional worlds that accompany our act of seeing beyond all norms – in our search for ourselves and for others?
The artist Evelyn Taocheng Wang (1981, Chengdu) interweaves art-historical traditions with personal memories and autofictional elements in her exhibition at Museion. In doing so, she questions notions of authenticity and explores how culture has long been represented and embodied. During her research in South Tyrol, she drew inspiration from layered historical references, including the remarkable fresco cycles at Runkelstein Castle.
In keeping with the title of the exhibition at Museion – Sweet Landscape – “sweet landscapes” also appear in the castle’s Tournament Hall: scenes of courtly love, aristocratic everyday life, and an exceptionally large number of depictions of medieval female nobility.
But what narratives lie hidden behind these centuries-old scenes? Which gender clichés and cultural perspectives originate here and continue to resonate today? Can we challenge them through a new reading of the images?
Together with experienced historians from the research team of Runkelstein Castle, we set out – inspired by the exhibition at Museion – on an engaging and insightful reading of images. In dialogue with art history and medieval (women’s) literature, we turn our attention to what lies behind the images, as well as to surprising perspectives on cultural narratives and forms of human (self-)perception.
In dialogue with: Florian Hofer, director of Runkelstein Castle and president of the South Tyrolean Museum Association; Tanja Cassitti, historian and museum mediator at Runkelstein Castle; Anna Bernardo, historian and research associate at Runkelstein Castle
In collaboration with Runkelstein Castle – South Tyrolean Castle Foundation.
The event will be held in German and Italian. Afterwards, refreshments will be served in the courtyard of Runkelstein Castle.
In Context
Museion Academy04.06.2026, 18:00—20:00
Location: Runkelstein Castle, Tournament Hall
Kaiser Franz Josef Way
39100 Bolzano
