As a surprising open-air museum, in constant cultural ferment, Peccioli brings to Venice its exemplary and experimental model of a resilient community in an ecological, social and technological key. A singularity that arises from hundreds of thousands of tons of garbage transformed into energy, resources, environmental care, well-being - and beauty - in the Alta Valdera area.

Surrounded by the Tuscan countryside, the unmistakable - postcard-worthy one - along the route that leads from Volterra to Pisa, Peccioli is a rural center that winds through the shining green on continuous ups and downs, between rows, trees, soft hills and valleys.

See also the Municipal Library of Peccioli

To distinguish it from all the other villages is the vibrant constellation of site-specific installations that animate the medieval alleys and dot the landscape, created by renowned artists, among which David Tremlett, Nakagawa, Massimo Bartolini, Umberto Cavenago, Alberto Garuti, Federico de Leonardis, Vedovamazzei, Vittorio Corsini, Fortuyn/O’Brien, Vittorio Messina, Patrick Tuttofuoco, Sergio Staino.

Boccini's work is now added to the existing artistic heritage, a multimedia and interactive ceramic installation. By inserting microsensors into the material compound that are activated by voice and touch, the viewer can interact with the panels to create a sequence of images, thus becoming co-author of the work.

The initiative is part of the thirty-year commitment of the Municipality of Peccioli to enhance the territory through contemporary works of art, in dialogue and comparison with the place, its history and its landscape.

In the alleys of the village, dotted with creative works that are part of the daily life of the inhabitants, the first experiment in the world of social robotics is staged in a real context. Like art, technology is also intertwined with the gestures and tasks of everyday life: robots bring home shopping, the home automation is tested by citizens, business incubators, academic spin-offs and centers are born of research.

An open-air artistic, social and technological laboratory, Peccioli stands out for its peculiarities among the 21 'Resilient Communities' chosen to be exhibited and told in the Italian Pavilion of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition, entitled How will we live together?, at the Venice Biennale 2021, which asks the curators of the various national pavilions to imagine how we will live together.

Read here why it is worth going to see the Venice Biennale

The Italian Pavilion, which offers a vision and projection of the beautiful country through the lens of the 'Resilient Communities' that take on an innovative sustainable development agenda - ecological, climatic, social, political, digital -, has identified in the Peccioli Laboratory a virtuous model, for the constant and coherent proposal of ecological, participatory and resilient initiatives, in fact.

With investments in sustainability, art and technological innovation, “Peccioli represents the meeting point between good environmental practices and the need for a positive impact for local communities”, explains Alessandro Melis, from the Heliopolis 21 studio, curator of the Italian Pavilion.

Watch the interview with Alessandro Melis here

Everything revolves around a gigantic landfill, managed by a shrewd public-private partnership through the Belvedere company, which 'swallows' garbage and pours out energy, therefore services, structures and infrastructures, which in turn generate wealth and assistance, but also environmental care, well-being and beauty throughout the Alta Valdera.

And the landfill itself, frescoed by Sergio Staino and the huge wall drawings by David Tremlett, is the subject of artistic interventions that make it an unexpected amphitheater and a surprising stage: the place where an unprecedented cultural limelight is staged that offers theatrical performances, events music and high fashion catwalks.

Converted into an engine of creative and (re) innovative energy, the landfill is a key player in having placed Peccioli and its surroundings as a cultural reference not only for the vast territorial area in which it is immersed, but also for an international public attentive to the quality of life, intrigued by creative initiatives and attracted by the enchanting scenarios that make the Tuscan countryside recognizable all over the world.