Giancarlo Rado: A Day Lasting a Year, the Life of Shepherds
2.3.2025, 4:30 PM
As part of the exhibition “You Are an Animal”, Lab27 will host a meeting on Sunday, February 16, at 4:30 PM to gather with Giancarlo Rado and discuss his narrative of shepherds’ lives through words and images.
Giancarlo writes about his long-standing interest in the life of shepherds:
"The archetypes of the people of Veneto, Trentino, and Friuli can be traced to those who still practice nomadic livestock herding. Transhumant shepherds represent a living model of an occupation that has been passed down unchanged over time and across regions, connecting the Mediterranean areas with territories in Central Asia, Africa, and the Arctic. There are about forty registered flocks, most of which are in Trentino (Valsugana, Fiemme, Primiero). The owners of these livestock businesses must comply with numerous requirements—fiscal, health-related, and logistical—which demand a true organization of labor.
However, it is transhumance that is the most fascinating aspect of a shepherd’s life. The constant search for pasture to feed the flock forces continuous nomadism along a cyclical route from the mountains to the sea and back again, following the courses of major rivers: Piave, Livenza, Tagliamento, and Brenta.
What truly strikes and inspires is the relationship with nature. Days pass timelessly, marked by the rhythm of births, movements, and the care of lambs. There is the wonder of dawn, sudden spring snowfalls at an Alpine pass, the pristine high-altitude pastures, and the degradation of the plains. This landscape is rapidly and unpredictably changing, perceived from the corner of the eye, against which these timeless figures move."
Giancarlo Rado: A Day Lasting a Year, the Life of Shepherds
2.3.2025, 4:30 PM
As part of the exhibition “You Are an Animal”, Lab27 will host a meeting on Sunday, February 16, at 4:30 PM to gather with Giancarlo Rado and discuss his narrative of shepherds’ lives through words and images.
Giancarlo writes about his long-standing interest in the life of shepherds:
"The archetypes of the people of Veneto, Trentino, and Friuli can be traced to those who still practice nomadic livestock herding. Transhumant shepherds represent a living model of an occupation that has been passed down unchanged over time and across regions, connecting the Mediterranean areas with territories in Central Asia, Africa, and the Arctic. There are about forty registered flocks, most of which are in Trentino (Valsugana, Fiemme, Primiero). The owners of these livestock businesses must comply with numerous requirements—fiscal, health-related, and logistical—which demand a true organization of labor.
However, it is transhumance that is the most fascinating aspect of a shepherd’s life. The constant search for pasture to feed the flock forces continuous nomadism along a cyclical route from the mountains to the sea and back again, following the courses of major rivers: Piave, Livenza, Tagliamento, and Brenta.
What truly strikes and inspires is the relationship with nature. Days pass timelessly, marked by the rhythm of births, movements, and the care of lambs. There is the wonder of dawn, sudden spring snowfalls at an Alpine pass, the pristine high-altitude pastures, and the degradation of the plains. This landscape is rapidly and unpredictably changing, perceived from the corner of the eye, against which these timeless figures move."
