Arkad Foundation – A Treasure Trove of Art between Tuscan Coast and Appennines

The main gallery of the Arkad Foundation in Seravezza, Italy; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit.

Arkad Foundation – A Treasure Trove of Art between Tuscan Coast and Appennines

In Tuscany, halfway between the beaches of Versilia and the mountains from which some of the world’s finest marble has been quarried for centuries, lies a special place full of charm. It is the Arkad Foundation created by two renowned artists – Nicolas Bertoux, born in Paris, and Cynthia Sah, a native of Hong Kong – who, since 2002, have decided to establish their residence here, together with the company/atelier Artco srl. The foundation’s home, with its magnificent exhibition spaces, guest artist lodgings, workshop, and living quarters is a monumental former marble sawmill, which, decommissioned in the late 1990s, Bertoux and Sah purchased and renovated with a courage bordering on recklessness.

Approximately 100 meters / 330 feet long, the building complex is located in the town of Seravezza, next to the famous Medici Palace from which it is separated by the provincial road leading from the sea, the “Via dei Marmi,” said to have been commissioned by Michelangelo to draw stone from local quarries for the façade, never built, of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence.
The Arkad Foundation’s building has a complex history that shines through in the intricate layering of its structures; in fact, it was born along the Vezza River as a fishpond, or trout farm attached to the Medici Palace, on which an ironworks was then built in the late 18th century, finally converted in 1847 into a mechanical sawmill for cutting marble by Englishman William Walton. The flood of 1996, which hit an already precarious industrial situation, ended the activity as a sawmill and marked the beginning of the structure’s new history.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Medici Palace of Seravezza was built in the 16th century, possibly after a design by Bartolomeo Ammannati. The Arkad Foundation is visible on the left of the palace; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit

A view of the Arkad Foundation’s architectural complex from the opposite bank of the Vezza River;  photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit

Nicolas Bertoux and Cynthia Sah are both artists, he trained as an interior architect and designer then turned to sculpture, she grew up between Taiwan and Japan and is also an internationally renowned sculptor; in Italy, they have found not only a place to live but also a place of the soul from which to draw inspiration for their works. Created both individually and in pairs, and characterized by large dimensions that enhance their soft, sinuous forms, Bertoux and Sah’s sculptures are often made of marble or stone, but sometimes also of other materials, from bronze to concrete, iron to wood. Their works can be found in private collections, museums, public buildings, and urban spaces in various European countries, in China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Mexico.
And yet, given where we are, it is inevitable that stone carving often emerges as the absolute protagonist. Not only in monumental sculptural works, but also in design objects and street furniture that are designed and produced by Artco srl, the company that Bertoux and Sah founded in Seravezza in 1998, and that deals with “designing, developing and producing sculptures, artistic or industrial design” for site-specific projects.

Nicolas Bertoux with the scale model of one of his iconic monumental sculptures; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit

In addition to the rooms for the foundation’s offices, ateliers, and residences, the complex in which the Arkad Foundation is housed includes two main spaces that I walk through accompanied by Nicolas Bertoux, who explains to me with evident enthusiasm and pride the history of the place and how he and Sah have reclaimed it to transform it by giving it new life.

The first space is the impressive linear gallery on the lowest level of the long building overlooking the Vezza River. Where once stood the forges and marble-cutting machines powered by the river’s waters, it is now home to a gallery of impressive length, in which photos and scale models of Bertoux and Sah’s sculptures follow one another, along with works by international artists that the Arkad Foundation displays in thematic exhibitions. Some of the works are the result of special commissions, such as the one related to the third edition of the Fusion project, for which five artists from Hong Kong and five residents of Italy were hosted by the Foundation to create eight “four-handed” works, using the former wood from China and the latter marble from local quarries. Various interesting design projects conceived by Bertoux can also be seen in the gallery.

The combination of the large and fascinating vaulted space, built mainly in the eighteenth century, and the remarkable contemporary artworks on display is decidedly powerful and engaging, also thanks to the natural light filtering through the windows, screened with translucent marble slabs on which photos and images have been printed, which is combined with careful artificial lighting. Traces of the building’s industrial past can be seen here and there,  such as in the compartments and technical passages that housed the mechanical parts of the machines once used for industrial activities.

In the Foundation’s main gallery, works by guest artists alternate with models and photos of large-size sculptures by Nicolas Bertoux and Cynthia Sah; photos © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit

In the art gallery, dark cave-like spaces, which retrace the industrial past of the place, appear here and there; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit

The gallery also contains a series of interesting design projects by Bertoux, including modular tables, chairs, and multifunctional objects; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit

Equally impressive is the imposing workshop on the ground level where the large stone sculptures by Bertoux and Sah, as well as those of guest artists, are worked on and made. Here a series of large machines, some numerically controlled, others more traditional, allow marble and stone to be cut and shaped bathed in a diaphanous light that makes the space look at once monumental and otherworldly.
Inside this sort of ‘treasure cave’ are enormous sculptural works in which stone, and particularly marble, is the material that gives rise to fascinating forms, side by side with working tools, handling machines, ready-to-machine stone blocks, inspirational objects, and various prototypes.

The workshop is a huge, impressive space filled with natural light where Bertoux’s and Sah’s company, Artco Srl, realizes large sculptures and works of art; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit

A sculpture by Nicolas Bertoux and other works by various guest artists; photos © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit

In the workshop, full-scale sculptures, artwork prototypes, carving equipment, and large stone slabs alternate, creating a fascinating ensemble; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit

An interesting work by Bertoux: a cardboard-brick modular construction system; in this case, it was used to build a micro-home for Dynamo Camp, an Italian charity that offers recreational therapy camps to children; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit

Overall, what is striking about the Arkad Foundation is the unique combination of historic architecture, ingenuity, contemporary creativity, curiosity, and an inclination toward other places and other people that only seemingly contrasts with the severeness of the landscape around us.
Visiting the Foundation is possible during the thematic exhibitions, performances, and symposia it organizes. In my case, I could do my visit outside of such periods thanks to the personal courtesy of Nicolas Bertoux.
It is possible to support the Foundation and its activities through various forms of membership indicated on its website.

Fondazione Arkad
Viale Leonetto Amadei 289, 55047 Seravezza (Lucca), Italy
E-mail: info@arkad.it
Telephone: +39 0584 75 70 34
Website: https://www.arkad.it