Category Archives: Vita Venexiàn

Mi stago ben…

Out, out, big ships.

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Venetian citizens insist: Get those massive cruise ships out of the Bacino.

Join the Facebook group – download the original document

From the press release, Venice, 11 July

We are a large group of Venice residents and sympathizers from all over the world who are concerned about the fate of Venice.

In recent weeks we have focused our attention on the problem of the negative impact and intensifying traffic of large ships — 610 mega-cruiseships in 2010 — that travel across the unique ecosystem of the Venetian Lagoon and pass just a few metres from Piazza San Marco along a canal that flows through the heart of the precious city.

On 28 April 2011 we sent a letter to the relevant administrations and local authorities, setting out a series of important issues regarding this type of traffic such as air and noise pollution; the hydrodynamic underwater effects that affect buildings especially in proximity to the smaller lateral canals; the opportunity cost to the city of this additional tourism induced pressure in economic, social, environmental and cultural terms. In more than two months, not a single one of the eight institutions that received our letter has replied.

[lv: On the contrary:]

  • The Cultural Minister, Giancarlo Galan, president of the Veneto Region for many years, superficially reduced the serious issues raised as a collection of questionable and subjective claims based on merely aesthetic criteria.
  • While he was the Mayor of Venice, the current President of the Port Authority, Paolo Costa had highlighted the need to re-route cruise traffic further away from the delicate city centre, but has not yet followed through with a commitment since taking on the Port role.
  • The current Mayor, Giorgio Orsoni, has also spoken out against the presence of these big ships in the lagoon on several occasions. But he too has not yet taken a clear stance now that the citizens he represents have asked him to.

Italia Nostra – Venezia* recently launched an appeal to the United Nations (Unesco) regarding the poor management of Venice. A quick scan of the main foreign websites covering Venice also reveals the high level of concern overshadowing our future.

Yet it doesn’t seem as though this concern is shared with those who – above all – should make the destiny of the city and its residents their priority.

We created a Facebook group to collect followers, ideas, suggestions and open a broad debate on this subject in order to inform thinking about a more sustainable future for Venice and the Lagoon. This spontaneous initiative is underwritten by a varied and representative range of political parties, residents associations, pressure groups, local businesses, celebrities as well as single individuals with a shared focus.

We demand some attention: we have concrete proposals that would safeguard tourism and commercial interests as well as guaranteeing an acceptable quality of life for the Venetians, and without compromising the heritage of the city given the environmental impacts and risk factors associated with the passage of the ships through its heart.

We ask for clear responses to these proposals and a clear stance by the relevant public authorities and administrations. There is no time left for just words. If no response is forthcoming, we will not hesitate in going further to confront the city’s administrators and those responsible for deciding port activities in other contexts such as the international organisations overseeing issues like public health, environmental protection, art, culture and heritage preservation, and are best positioned to provide a balanced and objective evaluation of the state of the city and future trends.

The whole world should be exposed to what is happening in Venice.

There is an urgent need to clarify who is responsible for damaging it, who is not, and who is keeping the silence. Venetians want to know.

New members and suggestions are welcome on the Facebook page:

facebook group: Fuori Maxinavi del Bacino San Marco or  tiny.cc/outoutbigships

_____________________

Venetians  want to know — along with a lot of other folks. Not sure what they’ll be able to do however, as they’ve just opened a new passenger terminal at Port Isonzo, and Paolo Costa has come up with a  grand solution of a one-way passage, “like New York,” that of course would involved digging a whole new canal from the Marittima to Fusina.

If you’re unfamiliar with the situation of the ships in Venice, watch the montage:

[youtube]kogUJvLxKGs[/youtube]

* remember you can translate (kinda) any page instantly using the Google Chrome browser, or going to translate.google.com and copy/pasting text.

 

private fish painting in sottoportego

My Own Private Biennale

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private fish painting in sottoportegoI’d heard or read somewhere that, perhaps inspired by the arrival of the Biennale, temporary paintings had begun springing up around town, created on paper canvas applied to walls, washing away easily with the rain. I hadn’t run into any though, until one appeared on my doorstep — literally.

Whoever painted this big, red, spotted fish was quite furbo, applying this canvas underneath the sottoportego so that it would remain protected and thus last longer. The paper has shredded and dissolved a bit at the bottom as motor boat waves at high tide slosh the lagoon water over the border, but if you ask me that just contributes to the overall effect that this fish monster is surging right up from the rio. Red spots sling off the fish’s nose onto the canvas above him. I think it’s divine.

I’m greeted by this ichthyic apparition every time I leave the house. È fantastico, and one of those unexpected things, the fact of which makes you become even more attached to this absurd city. And that this clever artist chose my sottoportego? What a coup…

 

UPDATE: Yvonne from Australia pointed out that this is the work of the same Papiers Peintres that create the papery frames around town (there’s one along the fondamente San Felice and another down from the Madonna dell’Orto). If you stand in the middle, have someone snap your photo, then send it to them — the address is on the frame — they’ll post it on their site. Explore their site, there are images, youtube videos, and more.

Inside the Intricacies of Burano Lace

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With the entire building extensively restored, restructured, and renovated and its precious collections re-envisioned, the Museo del Merletto — Burano Lace Museum — reopens to reveal an ancient craft in an ultramodern setting.

According to the press release, this restoration is a total one, from physical plant to interior design to presentational concept.

Located on the island of Burano in Piazza Galuppi, the museum is also the former location of the renowned Scuola Merletti di Burano (Burano School of Lace), founded in 1872 by Countess Andriana Marcello and in operation until 1970. It became a museum in 1981 and has been part of the Venetian Civic Museums since 1995.

We are proud to represent the synthesis of female wisdom and sensitivity an art that has transcended borders, social classes, regions…”

The objective of this long-overdue restoration was to highlight one of the greatest expressions of local artistic craftsmanship — the art of lacemaking — which is so intrinsically linked to the traditions and cultural history of the lagoon, and of the island of Burano in particular. This noble, ancient trade is almost exclusively carried out by women, combining two unpretentious, everyday materials (needle and thread) with skillful hands to produce intricate, true works of art. The museum presents the visitor with an overview of the historical and artistic vicissitudes of Venetian lace from its origins to the present day.

Lace Brought Back to Life

The revitalized interior incorporates island color schemes and innovative show cases designed and constructed specifically for this installation. The over one hundred and fifty samples of lace on display were selected from the most important collections of the Venice Civic Museums; you’ll also find paintings from the fifteenth to twentieth centuries, drawings, documents, journals, fabrics and costumes.

You’ll also be able to view skillful, tireless lace maestros at work; they are still today the guardians of an art that has been passed down from generation to generation. During the upcoming school year, educational activities will be resumed, including workshops, with initiatives aimed at both pupils and their families.

Said City Councilor for Cultural Activities Tiziana Agostini, “This is the story of hardworking hands, that over time have created priceless artifacts. We are proud to represent the synthesis of female wisdom and sensitivity an art that has transcended borders, social classes, regions, remain etched in the folds of time.”

Visitor’s itinerary completely redesigned

The objective of this long-overdue restoration was to highlight one of the greatest expressions of local artistic craftsmanship — the art of lacemaking — which is so intrinsically linked to the traditions and cultural history of the lagoon, and of the island of Burano in particular.

You’ll be immediately immersed in the world of lace with a brief, evocative film (subtitles in English); informative, illustrative panels reveal the secrets of this skillful technique and its most common points (punto Venezia, punto Burano).

A chronological visit continues one floor up though four rooms with four different themes:

1. Origins – sixteenth century. The diffusion and development of this art is documented by outstanding craftsmanship: From small trinette or ‘puntine’, accessories for men’s or women’s clothing, garments for ecclesiastic functions, and underwear with decorated hems with ornate designs;

2. 17th – 18th centuries. In the seventeenth century lace reached its peak: it became widespread throughout Europe, a symbol of prestige and social rank owing to its great value and intricate elegance. Production reached substantial proportions throughout lagoon islands and on Burano, which specialized in needlework, while in Pellestrina they adopted a bobbin technique — both still true today.

3. 19th – 20th centuries. Economic and social transformations and changes in fashion including the growing popularity of more comfortable and functional clothing marked the beginning of the decline of the lace market; it was gradually overcome thanks to the revival of the Burano lace school.

4. The Burano Lace School (1872-1970). With the patronage of the future Queen Margherita of Savoy, enlightened aristocracy and politicians devised a project opening a Lace School with the aim both to revive lace production and somehow ease the poor economic conditions of the island’s inhabitants. These sections employ video- and film clips, explanation sheets and a series of period glass, garments, books, drawings, paintings that create a context that is both informative and evocative.

Finally, a new museum guidebook published by Skira-Marsilio is now available in all city museum bookshops.


MUSEO del MERLETTO
 Piazza Galuppi, 187 – Burano

Open daily
10am-6pm, Apr – Oct
10am-5pm, Nov – Mar
Last ticket purchase one hour before closing

Closed Tuesdays, December 25th, January 1st, May 1st

Admission €5, reduced €3,50

visitmuve.it

images courtesy Musei Civici Veneziani

Come onde, sulle onde: Experimental waves to wash over the bacino

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Onde sulle Onde, or Waves upon Waves, is a public scientific experiment to be held at 9pm on Friday, June 24, in the Piazza San Marco…

…and we’re all invided.

For the first time in since Guglielmo Marconi (1895), radio waves derived from new physical applications — and discovered by the Venetian astrophysicist Fabrizio Tamburini in collaboration with his Swedish colleague Bo Thidé — will be generated and transmitted from the top of San Giorgio bell tower the Palazzo Ducale, where they will take audio and visual form. Of what type remains to be seen — a surprise, to be sure!

These radio signals pertain to properties identified by Tamburini regarding the physical principle of the orbital angular momentum of light, which allows one single bandwidth to carry an extremely high number of frequencies thereby increasing the potential for telecommunications, as well as resolution power for microscopes and telescopes. These are applications that have already been scientifically ascertained and lab-tested and which, in the near future, could represent a small leap forward in a number various fields (telecommunications, physics, astronomy, medicine, etc.) — and for humanity as a whole.

It’s a particular point of pride that Tamburini is both Venetian and maintains residency here in the city. The sponsors of the event are hoping that Venice, with this public experiment propagated throughout the world and taking place in the presence of leading international scientists — some of whom are part of the Nobel Prize Committee — will help reestablish Venice’s role in the development of scientific and technological innovation.

So head for the San Marco Molo at the water’s edge on Friday to see just what sort of onde wave over the bacino…hard to imagine science taking a more delightful form that this.


When is a typewriter store a work of art?

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Ah, but it’s not really a store, and it’s not just any typewriter. It’s the Negozio Olivetti — and a pièce de resistance of architect Carlo Scarpa.

This is the first article by a new contributor, Gioia Tiozzo. Gioia is a journalist, born in Venice and still living here. She’s interested in communication and the Internet, and would like others to know her city better; to that end she has established the web site 100x100venezia.it (in Italian for now, but scan her daily photo blog). Gioia is also interested in the concept of Venice as a water city, and given that water is an indispensable element of life, how important it is to have great respect for it.

Gioia will be submitting articles of interest from time to time, with me translating them. When I received this first one on the recently-restored Negozio Olivetti, I ran right out and shot the photos. Welcome, Gioia!

_________

After years of closure and a 12-month restoration, the magnificent showplace for historic Olivetti office machines has returned to take its rightful place on the Piazza.

Designed by renowned architect Carlo Scarpa (who also is responsible for the impeccable renovation in the basement of the Querini Stampalia), the Negozio is considered a masterpiece of modern art. Conceived in the ‘60s, it has never been a point of sale of typewriters and calculators, but rather the prestigious company’s elegant exhibition hall overlooking one of most beautiful and famous squares in the world. Closed in 1997, the following year Negozio sold tourist paraphernalia. But the restoration in 2010 supervised by the Superintendence for Architectural Heritage has restored all the property’s complex beauty, making it once again available for all to enjoy.

Negozio Olivetti’s story began in 1958 when captain of industry Adriano Olivetti asked Scarpa, one of the greatest architects of the twentieth century, to create a space that would represent the Olivetti company and their products. The result is a space of linear perfection where light and elegance interact flawlessly. Marble, mosaic tiles, glass, water and wood are integrated so seamlessly that the entire space becomes a work of art in and of itself. The marble staircase that leads from the ground to the upper floor is today considered a symbol of Scarpa’s modern art; the colored glass mosaic floor a gesture of his abiding affection for  the city. Reflections and transparencies create a sense of incredible volume to this long, narrow space just over 20 meters long and 5 meters wide.

 

With the desire to open an exhibition venue in Venice, Adriano Olivetti was pioneering the idea of partnering art with industry, and therefore with sustainability. An art patron who called on Scarpa to embark on an artistic adventure managed to create what is today considered an important work of modern art. The idea of being an entrepreneur and investing in works of architecture able to leave a distinctive mark over time, was one of the elements that distinguished Adriano Olivetti.

The Negozio Olivetti is on the “Quadri” side of the Piazza San Marco, toward the Correr.

Open Tue – Sun, 10-19 (Apr – Oct), 10-17 (Nov – Mar)
€5 entrance fee (full price)

Audio tours are available in Italian only at the time of this writing
negoziolivetti.it (in Italian)

The property is owned by Assicurazioni Generali and has been loaned to the FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano, Italian Environmental Fund), who manages it through volunteer participation.