There are works of art that remain in people’s hearts even after being destroyed, sometimes in such an indelible way that they are reborn from their own ashes. This is the case of the famous Winged Dragon of Vaiatoday reborn as Dragon Vaia Regenerationa giant wooden sculpture made by the Italian artist Marco Martalar in the province of Trento: here, in the shadow of the mountains of Magrè, on the Alpe Cimbra, in the locality of Lavarone, his work of art was born twice. Its first construction dates back to 2018: Martalar created the first so-called Winged Dragon of Magré using wood from the Trentino forests destroyed by the terrible Storm Vaia.
The sculpture, a symbol of rebirth and hope, was however destroyed by a arson August 23rd of 2023 (the culprit was never found). Nothing remained but shreds and ashes. Yet, Marco Martalar decided not to give up: after having created a sculpture in the shape of dragon eggwho announced his intentions, has decided to start a fundraiser and, with the proceeds, to give life to a new work that was even larger and more impressive than the first, using all the charred wood of the first dragon. His idea became reality with a new work, inaugurated in July 2024 and called Dragon Vaia Regeneration.
Having become a very popular tourist destination, also due to the beauty of the landscape that surrounds it, the work is not only very beautiful and full of meaning, but it even has a record: with its 17 meters long by 7 meters high and his 6 tons of charred woodit is about the largest wooden dragon sculpture in the world.
At the inauguration of the work, the President of the Autonomous Province of Trento Maurizio Fugatti he has declared:
It is clearly a testimony and a memory of a drama experienced by the community, which however has demonstrated its ability to transform a natural disaster into something beautiful and available to all” he commented.
During the re-opening ceremony it was announced that the story of the dragon’s reconstruction will become a movie documentary, In the dragon’s skinby Trentino director Katia Bernardi, who with her crew has followed Martalar’s work since last October, documenting the creative process and the construction phases.
