Souvenir di Montagna – Souvenir of the Mountains

“Souvenir di Montagna” is the name of the sculpture by Umberto Cavenago, which can be viewed opposite the Hotel Kulm. The location itself is a repository of memories of travel and of the historic axis connecting Val Bregaglia, the Engadin, and Venice.

In fact, the oldest part of the Hotel Kulm was built in the 17th century by the Gadina de Torriani family from Coltura. From Chiavenna, the family relocated to Venice to establish dairy businesses, forging close economic and political ties between the two regions in the process. The family’s historic trunks serve as a tangible testament to this history of travel: large travelling trunks that were once transported over the mountain passes by wagon. One can vividly imagine how small souvenirs from home were treasured inside them to ease homesickness in distant lands.

While these old trunks carried fragments of the mountains out into the world, Umberto Cavenago, with a touch of irony, reverses the perspective: his sculpture invites visitors to step inside the mountain itself, transforming the experience into a new kind of souvenir to take home.