As with every geographical place destined to become the cradle of a civilisation, the Po Delta too has accumulated, layer upon layer over time, centuries-old histories, traditions and cultures, alongside trades, productive activities and social practices that give a particular character to the relationship between humanity and the environment.

It is precisely towards the rediscovery of such an anthropological and sociological heritage that Deltarte is oriented — an itinerant contemporary art festival conceived expressly for the territory of the Polesine and the province of Rovigo, now in its third consecutive year at the heart of its varied cultural programme.

As a further prestigious boost to the event, which opened last April and runs through to 29 September, news arrives this very moment from Paris of the environmental certification that includes the Po Delta Park — already proclaimed a "world heritage site" in 1999 — in the so-called Unesco biosphere reserve, alongside other Italian sites such as the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, the Ledro Alps and the Judicaria of Trentino.

As Melania Ruggini, the initiative's creator and curator, explains, "One of the project's main objectives is the exchange of knowledge and memories among the inhabitants of the Delta, in particular between the elderly and younger generations, through workshops, meetings and artworks of various kinds" — that is, by giving value to a past handed down orally through stories and accounts from elderly people, entrusted to the work of reinterpretation and recontextualisation by the artists involved.

With this in mind, Deltarte presents the land art of Emmanuele Panzarini, namely the work "Lost memories", the murals by Melinda Šefčić entitled "Transformation of Identities", the street art of Lucamaleonte and the installations by American artist Joseph Gerard Sabatino: four projects developed during as many artist residencies lived in close contact with the surrounding local realities, also involving the Museo della Bonifica di Ca' Vendramin, the WWF di Rovigo and pupils from local municipal schools, who took part as protagonists in dedicated educational workshops connected to the work of the guest artists.

A programme further enriched by canoe excursions, concerts, video competitions, food stalls featuring local specialities, themed exhibitions on the ancient trades of the area — such as hemp textile processing — but also a specific focus on environmental issues, for instance through "eco-sustainable" snacks and aperitifs produced in collaboration with local farms, and against the unmistakable backdrop of lands, waterways, sandbars, oases, floodplains, islands and museums, among the pumping stations of Adria, Ariano nel Polesine and Santa Maria in Punta, Corbola and the island of Balotin, Loreo, Porto Viro, Rosolina Mare, Taglio di Po and Papozze.