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Stella Rochetich (Rome, Italy, 1997) is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Rome. In 2018, she earned her BA in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, where she also completed her MA in Painting in 2021. That same year, she co-founded the artist-run space Porto Simpatica. Her research focuses primarily on the sense of smell, understood as an invisible thread weaving new imaginaries, where memory, identity, relationships, and archives intertwine. In 2024, she participated in the fourth edition of Lab For New Imaginations at MACRO - Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome and in the group exhibition Great Expectations at SPAZIOMENSA, both in Rome. Between 2024 and 2025, she is an artist-in-residence at the Cité Internationale Des Arts in Paris.
Pratovecchio Stia, home to the Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi, is located in the upper Casentino, near the sources of the Arno river. A land of castelli, pievi romaniche, terracotte robbiane, Dantean landscapes and small borghi surrounded by ancient forests, it preserves significant medieval traces: from the majestic Torre di Porciano to the Castello di Romena, mentioned by Dante in the 30th canto of the Inferno, to the Palagio Fiorentino in Stia, now housing a contemporary art collection.
Borghi, piazze and portici define the center of Pratovecchio, whose architecture reflects a long history of faith, evident in places like the Monastero di San Giovanni Evangelista and the Propositura del Santissimo Nome di Gesù. Nearby, the Pieve di San Pietro a Romena stands as one of the most remarkable examples of Romanesque architecture in Casentino.
The center of Stia unfolds around the beautiful Piazza Tanucci, overlooked by the Romanesque Pieve di Santa Maria Assunta, which houses works by Bicci di Lorenzo and Andrea della Robbia, whose glazed terracottas are also preserved in the 15th-century Santuario di Santa Maria delle Grazie, built along the road to Mugello, 4 km from Stia.
A notable example of industrial archaeology, the historic Lanificio di Stia, one of Italy’s major textile centers until the mid-20th century, now hosts the Museo dell’Arte della Lana, dedicated to the history and culture of wool-making, especially the Panno Casentino, a fabric with its iconic curl, long associated with elegance and distinction. Other notable sites include Molin di Bucchio, the first mill on the Arno, and the Lago degli Idoli archaeological site, an important Etruscan sanctuary on Monte Falterona, near the river’s source. Local cuisine offers simple, flavorful dishes rooted in the agropastoral tradition. Typical recipes include acquacotta, scottiglia—a “land cacciucco” made with slow-cooked white meats served on toasted bread—and tortelli di patate, a symbolic dish of the upper Casentino. Among local products, the Abbucciato Aretino cheese, honey, and the Prosciutto del Casentino, a Slow Food Presidio, are especially appreciated.
Gabriele Tosi (IT, 1987) is a cultural curator and manager. He combines theoretical and organizational insight with an experimental and hands-on approach. He co-manages the organizations Toast Project in Florence and Megadue in Bologna, active in the independent scene. He curates “Climatica” (Alchemilla, Bologna) and he teaches at Istituto Marangoni in Florence.
Among his exhibitions: Italia Zokugo (Italian Cultural Institute, Tokyo), Adesso no (Manifattura Tabacchi, Florence), and Mezz’aria (Palazzo Fabroni, Pistoia).
For Una Boccata d'Arte, she curated the projects of Theodoulos Polyviou in Fosdinovo (2023) and Villiam Miklos Andersen in Serre di Rapolano, a hamlet of Rapolano Terme (2024), in Tuscany.