I came to Ortisei because I wanted to meet its sculptors, who are famous throughout the world. These artists know how to use wood from different trees to carve works of art that cover all styles, from primitive to hyperrealism. I chose a spot, a stool in a tavern, and carried out the anthropological exercise that makes it possible to use words to identify the map and the spirit of a place, even before visiting it. I understood that the richness of that valley did not only lie in the technique: day after day, the other customers seemed to be taking part in a never ending symposium on art that had probably started centuries earlier and was constantly evolving.