Postdoctoral Scholar Chanelle Adams Participates at Biennale Gherdëina 10
- Jul 6, 2026
- External Event
- Dept. AAK
- Chanelle Adams
- Reclaiming Turtles All the Way Down (TAWD): Plural Practices of Animal Cosmologies
Postdoctoral Scholar Chanelle Adams is a Participating Artist at Biennale Gherdëina 10, (Future) Paradise Gardens, in Val Gardena, Dolomites (May 31–September 13, 2026).
Bridging her established artistic practice with current research at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Chanelle draws on archival sources and fieldwork to examine environmental histories of speculation, extraction, and extinction.
Her site-specific installation, Test Pit—comprising an excavation, an essay, and an audio guide—responds to the geological history of the Dolomites and mountains as remnants of ancient marine life.
Test Pit was developed in close collaboration with prominent South Tyrolean paleontologist Herwig Prinoth, with sound design by Jake Nicoll. It is supported by the KSCL Laboratory for Multimodal History at the MPIWG and the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.
At the MPIWG, Chanelle is currently investigating the lives and afterlives of giant tortoises in the Southwest Indian Ocean.
Click to view photo gallery
Chanelle Adams, Test Pit, 2026. Sign with excavation pit. Commissioned by Biennale Gherdëina 10, With the support of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. Photo by Tiberio Sorvillo.
Chanelle Adams, Test Pit, 2026. South Tyrolean paleontologist Herwig Prinoth and Chanelle Adams. Commissioned by Biennale Gherdëina 10, With the support of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. Photo by Chanelle Adams.
Chanelle Adams, Test Pit, 2026. Tour group at the excavation site. Commissioned by Biennale Gherdëina 10, With the support of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. Photo by Chanelle Adams.
Chanelle Adams, Test Pit, 2026. Audio guides. Commissioned by Biennale Gherdëina 10, With the support of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. Photo by Tiberio Sorvillo.
Chanelle Adams, Test Pit, 2026. Print brochure with Chanelle's essay. Commissioned by Biennale Gherdëina 10, With the support of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. Photo by Chanelle Adams.
Chanelle Adams, Test Pit, 2026. The excavation site. Commissioned by Biennale Gherdëina 10, With the support of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. Photo by Tiberio Sorvillo.