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Venice, September 14, 2021- Within the enchanting setting of the Teatro Goldoni, on the evening of Sunday 12 September, the theatrical performance “La donna di fuoco”, based on the historical character and pioneer of Venetians beads, Marietta Badovier, was presented. The performance paid tribute to the art glass of Venice, concluding the Venice Glass Week festival, which this year took place during the celebration for the 1600 year from the foundation of the city. 

The show is the outcome of an important historical and anthropological research work, carried out by the “Associazione Arte-Mide” along with students, researchers, collectors and glassmakers, as part of the project “Interreg EU DIVA”, in cooperation with several partners including the Municipality of Venice, Venezia 1600, the Council of Europe, Ca’ Foscari, URS, EU Direct, CPVV, with the involvement of the Veneto Region and the Archivio Vittorio Cini Foundation. 

This long research work has enhanced in the theatrical performance, the emblematic figure of Marietta Barovier, a creative and fascinating character, an independent woman, and entrepreneur, that in the fifteenth century was among the first to get clearance from the Serenissima to open its own glass factory (fornace). “La donna di fuoco” is the story of a glassmaker, an artist, alchemist, and chemical, able to make major changes to the history of glass thanks to her famous particular glass design beads called “perle rosetta” (worldwide known as chevron). An iconic game of twelve-pointed reeds made of blue, white, and red concentric circles, which since 2020 has been declared as UNESCO cultural and material heritage. An important acknowledgment for the city of Venice, place of cultural creation of a heritage that must be preserved, promoted, and made available to the public, and that now has been transformed into a theatrical performance. 

The direction of Massimo Navone and the performance of Chiarastella Seravalle, actress and text writer, conduct the viewer through a time travel in a fifteenth century Venice. The atmosphere is enriched by the background music of Rachele Colombo that, with empathy, invites the audience to discover the deepest aspects of the art glass and of this character, an example of empowerment and a big inspiration for those days and for the present. 

The theatrical performance was also adapted in a self-titled feature film, produced by Ginko film in cooperation with Studio El Cocal. The national premiere movie trailer was displayed at the 78^th Venice Film Festival, while the full version, subtitled in four languages, will be presented during the European Day of languages, on September 26 at 6.00 PM, on the YouCaFoscari channel, the YouTube channel of the Venetian university. 

Venice, September 15, 2021- Celebrities swarming the Red Carpet throughout the years, during Venice Lido Film Festival, young boys diving into the Grand Canal, the massive floods of Venice on November 4 1966, elephants crossing bridges during the Circo Togni. The thousand faces of Venice captured in the “Cameraphoto Epoche” collection and held in proper boxes which pack away the past of more than 300.000 priceless negatives. Forty years of Venice existence snapped between 1946 and 1987. The keeper of this real treasure is Vittorio Pavan. 

He started doing this job almost by chance, when he was 14 years old, jumping from one studio to another, spreading the word that he was looking for a job, like people used to do. His long career started exactly at Cameraphoto, a Venetian photo agency founded in 1948 by Dino Jarach, between the likes of his masters Celio Scapin, Claudio Gallo, Walter Stefani and Claudio Stigher. 

“It felt like a dream. Watching photographers going back and forth the city- says Pavan. It was like me, watching pictures in my spare time, looking at all those famous celebrities’ portraits”. The real star of the collection is, in fact, the cinema itself. Here we can find the original famous shot of Paul Newman on a trip in a motorboat during the Venice Film Festival in 1963, with St. Mark Square in the background. But we can also find the portraits of Sean Connery driving a water taxi, and Sofia Loren overlooking the Grand Canal, or the great Alberto Sordi inside the Venice Art Biennale in 1958. Over time, much has changed in the photographic representation of the celebrities attending the Film Festival. 

“Once shooting movie stars was something intimate, something real- says Pavan-. At that time you could see celebrities walking around Venice, living Venice, and photographers could easily capture them, with the splendid view of the lagoon as a natural background”. Among all the shots that Pavan took during the Venice Film Festivals, from 1976 to 1984, the negatives of Sergio Leone are those to which he is more fond of. Perhaps it is because he was right next to the award-winning Italian director that Pavan watched the premiere of “Once Upon a Time in America”. 

But the collection is huge, and it doesn’t store just the art of cinema and its actors, but much, much more. Venice soul is preserved between those shots portraying a St. Mark square completely snowbound and frozen, in the middle of the last century, while almost like a crucial opposing point, an unusual Venice acts like a background to dromedaries crossing a bridge when the Togni circus was coming to town, in front of dazed workers digging a canal.  

How much hard work, study, mastery and authenticity stands behind the click of a button, this is what is shown through “Cameraphoto Epoche”, because although now photography has become a tool within the reach of anyone who owns a mobile phone, it used to be different. The freedom to shoot used to be limited by the film and the number of shots available, learning to look in the viewfinder used to be crucial. “The viewfinder- points out Pavan- is like a canvas that you have to know how to be in control of”. 

Photography as a timeless art, a mission, a passion, this is the kind of photography which these almost 300.000 printed shots represent. Shots that could be lost if not digitized as soon as possible. It has been twenty years since this scanning process and digital storing has begun, because the real goal, further than making these photoshoots accessible to anyone, is not to lose this precious treasure that, moreover, was declared to be of national interest by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. 

One of his deepest hopes is to be able to save the collection to which Vittorio Pavan has dedicated, and still dedicates, his entire life. The same hope that he has often captured during his job as a photographer and that, looking through those black and white pictures, he can still find in a shot which portrait the arrival of Vietnamese refugees in Venice, taken by himself when he was still engaged in photojournalism. Airlifted from Tessera with a helicopter, he landed on the ship while it was still offshore, and he captured its arrival in Venice. “While I was taking those pictures, I had two children wrapped around my legs and one on my back. They came from misery, they were full of hope and plenty of people welcomed them, there was a crowd out there. I was there with them and I felt their pressure, arriving in Venice felt almost like a dream”. 

Venice, 13 September 2021- Happy Birthday, Buon Compleanno Venezia! A shower of “starry” wishes from the world-famous celebrities fall over Venice. While swarming the red carpet in Lido, on their way between flashes, interviews and selfies, many actors and directors took part in the celebrations for the 1600^th year of the city, sending a wish, a kiss, or a message to the city, as a token of friendship. Among them the great Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar, producer of many popular movies, who this year attended the festival with “Madres Paralelas”, bringing on stage one of its most iconic actresses: Penelope Cruz. “Dear Venice, Happy birthday”- he said- “you’re all grown and old enough. Every time I come here; I feel happy. Best wishes”.  

The American actor Peter Sarsgaard- who this year walked the runway introducing the film “The lost daughter”, with his wife and director of the movie, Maggy Gyllenhaal, - said jokingly hello to Venice with a “Happy birthday Venice, you’re quite quite old”. 

So did the beautiful actress Jessica Chastain and the Guatemalan actor Oscar Isaac, at the festival to present the new tv series “Scenes from a Marriage”, based on the 1973 masterpiece by Ingmar Bergman. “Tanti auguri Venezia, buon compleanno”, she said smiling, while her workmate and friend blew a birthday kiss to the city. 

Among the many special wishes, those of Antonio Banderas and Anya Taylor, The Queen’s Gambit, couldn’t miss. The young actress came to Venice to present “Last Night in Soho”, together with the film director Edgar Wright, who promised Venice some birthday bumps! The great Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore also joined the festivities, wishing Venice “more centuries of life”. Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo brothers, directors and scriptwriters of the movie “America Latina”, also celebrated Venice birthday, not to mention the wishes of the actors Fabrizio Ferracane, Dori Ghezzi (in Venice for the premiere of “De Andrè, storia di un impiegato), Iaia Forte and Maria Nazionale with their movie “Qui rido io”, by Mario Martone. The actor Claudio Santamaria also congratulated the city saying, “Best wishes Venice, 1600 years of divinely brought charm”. 

Venice, September 6, 2021- A special opening with aperitif offers the chance to admire the exhibited works on the live notes of the duo Vendrasco-Tonolo. On Wednesday, September 8, from 7 pm, at the Querini Stampalia Foundation will take place an exclusive evening through music and art, titled “Paesaggi di carta e suoni”, a tribute to the city of Venice with its landscape, both real and transfigured, described by the ongoing exhibitions. The concert will take place in the auditorium and new musical suggestions will be proposed to evoke a sound transposal of the historical and contemporary landscape of Venice. Manuscripts from the Bibioteca Querini Stampalia, the nineteenth century’s “canzoni da battello”, echoing the Biennale Musica’ scores in pieces that, inspired by the Venetian musical history, will draw a “musical map” of the city. From 8 pm (until 10 pm) it will be possible to enjoy the evocative setting of the Carlo Scarpa back garden’, while sipping a drink after, or before, visiting the current exhibitions: “Venezia panoramica. La scoperta dell’orizzonte infinito'' edited by Giandomenico Romanelli and Pascaline Vatine. and “Un’evidenza fantascientifica. Luigi Ghirri, Andrea Zanzotto, Giuseppe Caccavale '' edited by Chiara Bertola and Andrea Cortellessa. The event is part of the activities organized to celebrate the 1600^th anniversary from the foundation of the city of Venice.

Spaces are limited, Green Pass and advance booking are required: manifestazioni@querinistampalia.org.

“Venezia panoramica” shows the largest “view of Venice” ever realized, the one painted in 1887 by the Venetian painter and decorator, Giovanni Biasin, which is exhibited for the first time after the recent conservative restoration that has recovered the beautiful original colors. An opportunity to reconstruct that fascinating journey, through almost sixty engravings and paintings, that starts from the tiny woodcut cartoons of the fifteenth century, almost entirely focused on St. Mark’s Square, and gradually widens to larger and larger views of Venice’s skyline, up to embrace the whole horizon.

“Un’evidenza scientifica” is, on the other hand, the third act of the research program linked to the Luigi Ghirri Fund, which compares photography, painting and poetry, an enhancement opportunity given through the language of art. A trialogue: a visual artist like Giuseppe Caccavale and a great poet like Andrea Zanzotto, confront each other with the works of Luigi Ghirri, on the great topic of landscape. The language of photography, of poetry and painting compose an unpublished landscape, so unrecognizable and transformed to seem the landscape of a different world, a fantasy world. Further information at www.querinistampalia.org.

Venice, 2^nd September 2021 – How do you learn to row? No one teaches you; you just have to get on board and begin, and row for hours, years. It takes concentration, sweat and effort. You row with your head, arms, expertise and with your heart. You row because you respect and love Venice, its 1600 years of history and its lagoon. You row because you feel it, like burning flames that never extinguish, not even when you are 75 years old. His eyes still mirror the passion for rowing and the will to win and be “The king of the oar”, the prince of Venice. Vianello Gianfranco Crea hasn’t been rowing since 1996, when he participated to his last Historical Regatta. A farewell that has lasted for 25 years, because it is important to know when to stop. He won everything, got dozens of flags and, between 1977 and 1983, together with Palmiro Fongher, won the competition with the gondolino seven times in a row. A man that perhaps learnt first how to row and then how to speak, with that kind of genuine love that is typical of past generations. 

“My grandfather, my grandfather’s brothers, the children of my grandfather’s brothers and my granfather’s children. They all rowed –Crea recalls – we were a dynasty. At that time, the Historical Regatta was almost considered as a matter of life or death, and a matter of public image, for sure. The Regattas were the symbol of the Venetian life while unfortunately, nowadays, it is no more like it used to be. Times have changed, and the invention of motorboats have changed the way in which youngsters used to live within the lagoon. It’s a pity though, because rowing is a form of art, and it is part of the ancient Venetian culture”. 

An event that evolved throughout time, and which has existed since 1300. Although it has changed several names (Regata, Regata veneziana, Regata reale, Regata fascista, Regata storica) the event is still the most renowned that takes place in Venice, and which every year is celebrated on the first Sunday of September along the Grand Canal. 

“The great boom of the Regatta arrived in the 1930s and lasted until the 1980s, due to the great popularity of the event and its great development which involved the whole community” – he explains – “If you won the Historical Regatta in the 40s, 50s or 60s you were treated like a prince. Everyone wanted to win the prizes and we all knew that we could succeed only by training very hard and by giving our best to beat the others. The Historical Regatta has ancient roots since it was established hundreds of years ago. At the beginning, it was monopolized by Venetian aristocrats and gondoliers while later, when the association Manin was established, gondoliers were gathered in stazi(a pier in which gondoliers dock their gondolas) and so, from that time on, everyone aimed at improving their technique. As a consequence, the participation to the Regatta was also extended to the people living on the islands of Pellestrina, Burano and Treporti, who added their rowing technique and their different culture”. 

Crea won 13 times the red flag, which is given to the winning couple. It is a few days before the competition, which will be held on September 5th, that Gianfranco Crea recalls his old and glorious days. 

“To me, the most important edition was the one in which, Palmiro Fongher and I were crowned as “Re del Remo” (The king of the oar) in 1981, following the tradition according to which who used to win five Historical Regattas in a row got a laurel wreath – he explains –. That was a great achievement. At that time, my uncles, who were already rather old, told me that it was the “cherry on top” missing to our family”. This is a title that remains, a great thing in life” 

To win the Historical Regatta you need everything: technique, power, and expertise. “I have always said that the venetian rowing technique is a cultural matter – the champion claims – you have to row for 40 minutes, using your expertise in order to get the best result with the minimum effort”. The strongest rivals? “I’ve always respected andchallenged everybody” – he recalls – “Sergio Tagliapietra “Ciaci”, gave his life to the Regattas and to him, hats off. There also was “Strigheta” and the Fongher brothers, everybody was great”. 

Boats in the competition play a key role and tell the true essence of Venice. “First, they used to compete only by using gondolas or gondolini, and only later other boats were used – he says – the gondolino is the most elegant and technical boat to row and as such, only those who have paid their dues can row with it. Originally, the gondolino was used as a form of transport to go and get a bit of fresh air in the lagoon. As a matter of fact, the owners of the squeri (shipyard) compete to create the most beautiful gondolino. Women have the mascarate, a sort of skull, a lighter boat, that originally was used by fishermen from Burano and Pellestrina who had to run to the Rialto market and sell the catch. Then we have the caorline, boats used by greengrocers and fishermen which had 4 or 6 oars used both for fishing and carrying around vegetables. Moreover, it was used as a place to sleep. Last but not least, the pupparini, which were used by Venetian aristocrats to go hunting in the sandbanks as we can see in the paintings of Carpaccio. This boat is sharp, very difficult to build and as such, designed and produced in the finest squeri of the city”. 

For long, Crea’s name has also been connected to his craftsmanship as a master shipwright, activity that he carries out in the shipyard, located in the island of Giudecca. Here, perfection is sought every day and, together with the love for the Venetian lagoon, typical venetian boats are created and restored. In this shipwright venetian gondolas, the symbol of Venice, are produced. “There are just three shipyards left in the whole world that still create gondolas, which is actually the most difficult boat to make since it is a work that stands halfway between the one of the squerarolo (the one who works inside the shipyard) and the one of the gondolier. As a matter of fact, when you create the gondola, you have to feel involved within the gondolier’s job, you have to know how much it weighs and in which canals it will go since not every canal is the same – he explains -. There is the whole city of Venice inside a gondola, six arts that represent our craftsmanship: those who build the oars, blacksmiths, engravers, decorators and then, who make it”. 

Free spirit and independent, when he was young Crea worked for some months as a gondolier and then, for 18 years he worked as a fisherman in the lagoon, attracted by the surrounding environment. 

“At the end of 1965, the lagoon was a pristine environment, with thousands of fishes of all kinds. Nevertheless, when I realized that pollution wouldn’t have stopped, and I began to see thousands of dead fishes in the lagoon, I got scared and I thought that I couldn’t live by doing that job anymore – he recalls -. So I went back to school, and at the beginning of the 80s I became a master shipwright”. 

At 75 years old, he still works passionately all day long, although the demand of wooden boats in the last few years has fallen dramatically, consequently to the diffusion of boats made of plastic. 

“My dear friend Ciaci used to say that “The secret of rowing is rowing itself”. To the youngsters I say that they have to go rowing. In the end the boat will take you, but you have to row for hours, years – he concludes -. When I was a young boy, they used to say to me “Since you will have to work, it’s better if you chose a job that you like and you will enjoy yourself while working” and so I did. To the youngsters I wish it will happen the same. 

Venice, 31st August 2021 - On Sunday, 5th September the Venice Historical Regatta will be held. It is one of the oldest events that take place in the city centre and, this year, will acquire a specific importance as we celebrate Venice 1600 years.

A competition that originally took place among fishermen who, after a night spent working, tried to win the race towards the market of Rialto, to sell their fishes at the highest price. They tried to win the race with their boats, especially designed to support the “voga alla veneta”, a typically venetian way to row which involves rowers who, in that circumstance, used to overlook the bow that was headed towards the market.

It was only in the second half of the XII century that regattas, especially organized to celebrate religious festivals or important events, were held.

The first written proof of this competition among rowing boats - typical of the venetian lagoon – dates back to the 1274, and claimed that “Splendor magnificissime Urbis Venetorum, die 16 septembris” is “indicta regatta cum navigiis habentibus remos viginti". So, the Repubblica Serenissima, already in the XIII century, supported and promoted sports events where venetians power and sailing ability were celebrated.

It was in 1315 that the Senate began to regulate the competition, connecting the playful aspect of the race to the event of the Festa delle Maria, creating a unique show that proudly witnessed the richness of one of the most influential and powerful Marine Republics of the Mediterranean.

The famous View of Venice (also known as de’ Barbari Map) of the 1500s is one of the first images of the Regatta, which originally used to take place along the canal that stretches between Lido and San Mark’s square by means of rowing boats.

Although after the fall of the Repubblica Serenissima in 1797 Venice went through a difficult time – the French and Austrian occupation, not to mention two World Wars – the Historical Regatta remained an event that Venetians wanted to maintain and actually managed to preserve until the present days.

The first “modern” Regatta took place in 1841, although a different number of boats with different colours were used in this edition. From that year on, the event will be fully financed by public institutions. Moreover, from 1841 the competition gained characteristics that it has maintained throughout centuries until the present days. Indeed, it used to be organized by the municipality of Venice under the control of the Austrian authorities. This was considered as a competition to be carried out along the Grand Canal to encourage gondolieres to preserve the honour of their praised abilities.

Throughout the whole 19th century until the beginning of the 20th, there was not a specific date in which the Regatta along the Grand Canal was held. Therefore, it used to be celebrate together with important events as in 1856, for the visit of the of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary Francesco Giuseppe and his wife Sissi, or as in 1866 when the Veneto was included within the Italian Kingdom or again, in 1892 when Biennale was open for the first time.

It was in 1899, when the third edition of the Biennale Internazionale d’Arte was held, that the Mayor Filippo Grimani poposed to provide the Regatta with the adjective “Historical”.

From 1922 the Historical Regatta takes place every year and it is organized by the Municipality of Venice. The Regatta was only suspended in 1939 and 1946 as a consequence to the war, although in 1942, during the conflict, it took place anyway and was used as a background in a scene of the “Canal Grande” by Cesco Baseggio, which was set in the 19th century.

The traditional regatta is exclusively carried out by men on board of the gondolini. Throughout years, several competitions have been added to the main one: the one involving the Caorline, a six-raws boat (since 1951); the one of the Giovanissimi (the youngsters, since 1976); the one of the women (since 1977, although already in 1953 and 1954 two competitions were carried out). After the qualification sessions, which take place throughout the year, nine boats compete to win the “flags”: the winners get the red ones, the runners-up get the white ones, the third ones get the green flags while the fourth ones get the light blue flags.

The crucial stages of the race are several. First, the “spagheto” (string) stretched at the start in front of Sant’Elena; the “paleto”, a pole set in the middle of the Grand Canal in front of Santa Lucia railway station where, traditionally, the winners will be announced. Moreover, there is the “macchina”, a floating structure which is laid on an anchored barge, located in front of Cà Foscari. This structure, fully decorated with golden carvings, is the place in which the winners will be welcomed with prizes and flags.

The historical parade, included after the second world war, opens the competition. It recalls the arrival in Venice of the queen of Cyprus, Caterina Cornaro, who renounced the throne and marked the inclusion of its island within the Serenissima. The parade includes dozens of typical 1500s coloured boats, in which gondoliers wearing original costumes row to transport the Doge and Caterina Cornaro, in addition to other members of the Venetian judiciary. The parade is a truly faithful historical representation of the glorious past of Venice, one of the most powerful and influential Marine Republics of the Mediterranean.

Venice, August 30, 2021- From 1-11 September 2021 at Venice Lido, during the year for the 1600th anniversary of the foundation of Venice, the 78th Venice International Film Festival kicks off, organized by La Biennale di Venezia, and directed by Alberto Barbera: the aim of the festival is to promote and spread a deeper knowledge of the international movie scene in all its forms as art, entertainment and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and dialogue.
Here a short introduction about the ancient roots of the Biennale Cinema. 
The first International Film Festival dates back to 1932 and was a part of the eighteenth Venice Biennale. The Festival, called “1st International Film Festival”, was born with an idea of the then president of the Venice Biennale, Count Giuseppe Volti, together with the sculptor Antonio Maraini, the Festival’s secretary general, and Luciano De Feo, secretary general of the Educational Film Union (branch of the League of Nation, based in Rome), who agreed with the idea of carrying out the Festival in the lagoon city and was the first director and recruiter.

The first edition was carried out from the 6th to the 21st of August in 1932 and was the first international event of this kind: it was entirely held on the terrace of the Hotel Excelsior at Venice Lido and, although it was not yet regarded as a competition, there were already titles of great merit, which later on became true “classic” in the history of cinema. Among these should be noted “Forbidden”, by the great American director Frank Capra, “Grand Hotel” by Edmund Goulding, “The Champ” by King Vidor, the first and unmatched “Frankenstein” by James Whale. The prominent personages of these movies were present, bringing over 25 thousand spectators to the halls of the Venice Lido. We are talking about some of the greatest stars of that age like Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Fredric March, Loretta Young, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, not to forget Italian idol Vittorio De Sica and the great Boris Karloff, remembered for his role as the monster in the first “Frankenstein”. The very first film in the festival was shown on the evening of August 6, 1932: "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Rouben Mamoulian. The first Italian film “Gli uomini, che mascalzoni… “ (Men, Those Rascals…) by Mario Camerini, was introduced on the evening of August 11, 1932.

Due to the lack of a jury and the awarding of official prizes, introduced only later, a list of acknowledgements was decided by popular vote and announced by the Organizing Committee, on which presided Attilio Fontana of the I.C.E (Institute of Foreign Trade): from this the best director was declared – Russian Nikolaj Ekk for the film “The Road to Life”, while the film by René Clair “Give Us Liberty” was voted as the funniest. Best actress was awarded to Helen Hayes, while for best actor Fredric March. The “most moving” turned out to be the American movie “The Sin of Madelon Claudet”, by Edgar Selwyn.
The second edition was held two years later, in 1934, and was the first competitive edition: at least 19 nations participated, including more than 300 confirmed journalists. The festival became an annual event in 1935, due to its overwhelming international success. In that same year the Mussolini Cup was introduced, as the first official award for the Best Italian and Foreign Film, even if there was no official jury: it was the presidency of the Biennale that decreed the winners of the awards. In addition to the Mussolini Cup, the Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment were introduced, as well as the acting awards for the best performances and for young filmmakers.

With its growing notoriety and prestige, the number of works and countries participating in the competition also increased. However, starting from this edition and until the end of the post-war period, no more Soviet films would participate, while the prestigious award for actors was changed into the "Volpi Cup", named after the count Giuseppe Volpi of Misurata, father of the festival.
From one edition to the other, many innovations occurred: during the 1937 edition, the new Cinema Palace was inaugurated, a work by the architect Luigi Quagliata, built in record time following the “modernism” trend, widespread at the time and since then never left behind in the history of the festival, except between 1940 and 1948.

The 1940s represent one of the most difficult moments for the festival itself, due to the ongoing wars: the 1940, 1941, 1942 editions took place in Venice, but were carried out in places far away from the Venice Lido. Few were the countries participating. The festival resumed full speed in 1946, after the war, even if the festival took place at the Cinema San Marco, due to the requisition of the Cinema Palace by the allies.
For the first time, the 1946 edition was held in the month of September, in accordance with an agreement with the newly reborn Cannes Film Festival, which had just held its first review in the spring of that year. In 1947 the festival was held in the courtyard of the Doge's Palace, the most magnificent backdrop hosting a record of 90 thousand participants. In 1947 also occurred the restoration of the international jury to award the International Grand Prix of Venice.

The always growing relevance of the festival led to a demand for wider spaces: between 2000 and 2001 the direction focused on the development of infrastructures, combining historical building with new wide locations, either renewed or specifically created for the festival, improving the connections between different areas of the city and giving the festival a total available space of about 11,000 square feet.

Venice, 8th July 2021 – A magical place, a treat for art experts, where an unrevealed version of Jacopo Palma il Giovane can be admired. Here, throughout the crusade era, soldiers and pilgrims, heading towards or coming back from the Holy Land, used to make a stopover. By revealing masterpieces hidden in every corner and surrendered to the decay as centuries went by, Venice is telling us its 1600 years.

This is precisely the case of the Ospizio Zen and the attached Oratorio dei Crociferi. From the outside, this building complex has a meaningless gabled façade which extends on the left side of campo dei Gesuiti whilst on the inside, it preserves a whole cycle of paintings of the late Venetian Renaissance’s popular artist. In the XII century, around this swampy area of the city, the religious order of the Crociferi funded its own hospital and church, entirely dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption. While in 1214 the church was destroyed by a fire, it was later rebuilt and enlarged. At that time, the order of the Crociferi played an essential role in society, especially in relation to activities connected with people's medical care, with the cleansing of the outskirts where the order settled in, and with providing accommodation to merchants, soldiers, and pilgrims.

“This whole area was given to the order of the Crociferi to develop cleansing policies – explains Laura Marcomin, coordinator of the cultural and exhibition section of the Fondazione Venezia Servizi alla Persona (Antica Scuola dei Battuti and Ire), which preserve the site –. This place was originally built to welcome pilgrims who made a stop in Venice on their way to Jerusalem whilst secondly, it was transformed into a two-floor structure with a long corridor and seven rooms – which included and still includes a private kitchen - facing it”.

It was in 1268 when Doge Renier Zen left almost everything he owned to the order of Crociferi, including the vineyards located in Istria and which hospitalized people would have forever benefited from. Renier Zen used to live in the next-door building that was called Palazzo Zen. About this building some people said that it was so close to the one of the Crociferi, that an internal passage connecting the two buildings was created. Throughout the 1400s, due to the lower number of pilgrims in Venice and to the end of the crusade, the Ospizio was transformed into a palace that could host at least 12 lonely women in need of help. In the 1500s, after a long argument concerning Zen’s legacy – which had never really been delivered by legal representatives that used to manage it - the building changed, due to the artistic bloom that it hosted, which made it a unique element in the whole venetian art scene of the XVI century. The whole cycle of paintings by Palma il Giovane, which can be dated back among 1583 and 1592, made the Opsizio a rare piece of art. Painted at the behest of Doge Pasquale Cicogna, the cycle of paintings stretches along the walls of the Oratorio as well as on the ceiling of the small room where the essential events, which characterize the story of the Crociferi, are represented.

“Next to this Ospizio there is a small chapel that, back in the 1500s, was enriched by the art works of the great Venetian artist Jacopo Palma il Giovane. Artworks by Palma il Giovane which in this case can be defined as unrevealed, due to the portrait skills used, which actually did not characterize his style, typically mannerist and classic instead – continues Marcomin -. This is a unique and magical place, just for art lovers and experts. As a matter of fact, visitors do not expect to see such a beautiful art cycle, with bright colours and almost completely preserved. Indeed, the only non-original artwork – not painted by Palma since it was stolen – is the altarpiece”. 

The Oratorio dei Crociferi was reopened to the public in October 1984, after twenty years of closure due to the damages caused by the flood on November 4, 1966 and consequent artworks necessary to recover the building.

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Venice, 14 July 2021- A close bond binds the Capuchin friars of the Monastery of the Redeemer to the people living in the Giudecca Island. An historical bond, which finds its roots back in the 1500s, when the friars, already at the time, treated the sick and helped the needy. A bond that was renewed when Napoleon destroyed the Order of Friars and so they were welcomed, by the “giudecchini” into their homes. Since then, five hundred years have passed but little has changed, the Capuchin friars, in fact, now as then, are always at the service of that piece of land that seems to protect, stretching out, the fish-shaped Venice.

The Votive Temple of the Redeemer, as it is called by the friars, it’s a landmark for Giudecca, as it is for the whole city, which this year celebrates the 1600th anniversary from its foundation. A few days before the celebration for the deliverance of Venice from the plague, the friars are ready to renew, both with locals and tourists, the vote to the Senate of the Republic.

The Feast of the Redeemer (Festa del Redentore) is still a very popular celebration, not just among tourists but also among Venetians themselves. Last year I had fun asking people standing in line: “Where do you came from and why are you here?”- tells us the Superior of the convent, Father Gianfranco Tinello- and I remember a man that answered: “We’re here to put into practice the vow of our forefathers”. Then I remember, with some emotion, that a group from Codogno arrived to thank and seek help from the Lord to be freed from the plague of Covid19. Now in a few days we are celebrating the Feast of the Redeemer and we, the friars, are the guardians of this encounter between a religious and social commitment and faith. Our message of hope is that now and forever this integration, this meeting between the several forces of our society, among those who are more committed on the territory and those on spiritual life, could resist so that we can find the strength to start again.

The Capuchin friars, who take their inspiration from the rule of San Francesco, have been at the Redeemer since 1535.

“The friars arrived in 1535 and since then they devoted themselves to preaching but, above all, they were essential in Giudecca because the island’ sick people were sent to them- tells us Father Gianfranco- so they could take care of those in need, and this is why in 1576 they were entrusted with the Church of the Redeemer”.

The Capuchin friars were born as part of Franciscan reform, which pursue moderation and poverty as a way of life: the first original church is located behind the majestic temple of the Redeemer and was built in 1535, it was the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli.

“When the Friars saw this beautiful church of the Redeemer growing, so majestic and huge compared with the poor sizes of the Capuchin reform, they were afraid and decided to leave it- says Father Gianfranco- the compromise between Palladio and the Friars was that the church could be built in a majestic neoclassical style, with wonderful clean lines, but the choir should be kept very simple, and if fact so it is, made of just 5 windows and white painted. Even the choir chairs are not inlaid, as they are in other wonderful choirs of Venice, they are kept extremely simple”.

And so, as it is reported at the entrance of the votive temple, in 1576 the Senate of the Republic approved the construction of the Redeemer, as a thank you for the deliverance of Venice from the plague.

“You recognize it as a real votive temple because your gaze is not immediately directed toward the side chapels, although they are enriched with many works by major artists, but all leads to the Redeemer, the one who freed Venice from the plague- explains the Superior- on the day when the Redeemer was celebrated, the Doge and the Patriarch attended the ceremony seating in the two chapels placed alongside the apse”.

The complex of the Redeemer it’s all a discovery process: you can find cloisters, evidence of the wooden beams on which the temple was built, the ancient pharmacy, which was used when pestilences occurred and the Venetian authorities gave out “free tickets” to poor so that they could buy herbal-based medications, made by the Capuchin and the Monks of San Giorgio. “Actually, it is quite unusual for the Capuchins to prepare medications for the laity, since it was forbidden, but Venice was an exception”, says Father Gianfranco. It is also possible to admire, beyond the islands of San Clemente, Sacca Sessola and the Grazie, the vegetable gardens and the courtyards that, since the very beginning, were used by the friars for their survival. There are fruit trees, a little olive tree grove, used by the friars to produce olive oil, grapevines, vegetables, aromatic plants and even artichokes. There is a “cavana” with a caorlina boat, which dates back to the 1800s, that has always jointed the friars in their daily activities, including that of guiding the ones who passed away to the cemetery of San Michele. “But you can admire this caorlina also during the Vogalonga, since we all take part in it- says Father Gianfranco smiling- it seems that this caorlina arrived at the end of 1800s and is believed to be the oldest Venetian boat still on water. We also have a “mototopo” boat that we use during our charitable actions, for example during the distribution of food".

Daily life here is all about work and prayer, along with the school of theology, the maintenance activities of the huge complex and the care of the garden.

“Our commitment is to preserve the convent and to care for spiritual and material assistance- concludes Father Gianfranco- during the Covid19 emergency the friar joined other associations that operated on the island to help the needy and, in the end, we have helped almost 130 families, more than 300 people. We hope to get over the Covid19 emergency and that this difficult period, as in other situations, could let some deep feelings rise. We hope that people, who took advantage of our support, in the end, decide to volunteer with us or to help, themselves, those in need”.