Border-themed interactive installation launched at San Pietro al Natisone
San Pietro, 17 July - A new interactive video installation displaying how border in the area changed through history was launched on Saturday at the Slovenian landscape and narrative museum SMO in San Pietro al Natisone, a community in north-eastern Italy with a majority Slovenian population.
The three-dimensional installation measuring four square metres in size is the latest addition to the museum's permanent interactive displays and traces how borders in the area changed since the 6th century.
The relief model of the area with mountains, river valleys, the coast and the sea also showcases events that have accompanied and had effect on changes to border through time, the Liessa-based Institute for Slovenian Culture said in a press release.
The installation transports the visitor to a particular time in history. By selecting the historical period of their choice with the touch of a coin the visitor sets two synchronous video projections into motion - one showing how border moved with time on the topographic relief, while the other projects detailed information onto the wall. It is all accompanied by sound effects.
The installation is based on a lengthy research project as part of which borderlines over a period of 1,400 years had been reconstructed in detail.
The text included in the video animation gives a recount of attacks and incursions into one or the other side and tells about the succession of authorities until today.
The display is a tool to help understand European history and the multi-cultural character of the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
"It is an installation for everyone who wants to learn about the border and thaw the ice that has pushed our history and territory into the off-limits zone," the museum said.
Based on the idea of Donatella Ruttar, the installation was created by the Italian-Spanish studio Out Of Format. As other installations in the museum it can be adapted to new content.
The launch of the installation was also attended by Minister for Slovenians Abroad Helena Jaklitsch.
Opened in 2023, the SMO museum is dedicated to the cultural landscape stretching from the Julian Alps to the Adriatic Sea, from Mt Mangart to the Gulf of Trieste. The museum is also a research centre.