Right from Zattere, in “his” Venice, Emilio Vedova watched the “burci” (typical Venetian transportation boat) leave, loaded with his twenty-year-old’s dreams. Those same “burci” he then drew, when they floated along the “Canale delle Navi”, a liquid road between the stones of Zattere and Giudecca. He decided he wanted to live in Zattere and so he did for fifty years with his beloved Annabianca.

Now he is back here with his art, in the big “Magazzino del Sale” (Salt warehouse), to continue his dialectical relationship with the world. The first of nine 14th century halls, the warehouse was given to Fondazione Vedova to exhibit Emilio’s works as a result of the enlightened effort of major Massimo Cacciari. These are the places loved and desired by Vedova as he wrote at the beginning of the 1990’s: “I hope the museum will find a location in these same spaces. I talked about it with my friend Renzo Piano, whom I hope will be willing to collaborate. Piano – architect earth/water – from Genoa to Osaka, Amsterdam and Berlin and Venice?”.

Starting from those conversations, Renzo Piano has conceived a project able to reaffirm the Master’s drives, tensions and invasions (Absurde Berliner, Tagebuch, plurimi, dischi and binari) through the movement of the works themselves into the architectonic space.

Developed and directed by Maurizio Milan with the collaboration of Alessandro Traldi, Metalsistem and Iccem, the dynamic project develops into a highly technological robot-mechanical system (almost one of Leonardo’s machines) liberating the pictures from the walls fixity. Curator and scientific director of the Fondazione, Germano Celant thought of the space as an exhibition space not only devoted to Emilio’s works but also open to the dialogue with other modern and contemporary artists.

Studio Systema and Studio Camuffo are in charge of communication and graphic design. The Foundation’s director, Fabrizio Gazzarri combines management activities and institutional tasks with his thirty-year day-by-day experience of work with Vedova. With the opening of the space, the desire/project of the Maestro is realized. He wished that the sign of his presence in contemporary art would be placed in Zattere, seen as the ideal departure point for his never-ending journey through the Universe. While performing this committing task, the foundation is also aware of its involvement in a broader urban and cultural plan designed for this part of the city.

The last part of the Grand Canal is in fact characterized by a dense urban, architectonic and artistic fabric of great quality and unprecedented concentration: Palazzo Grassi and following right after Ca’ Rezzonico, then Accademia Galleries and the neo-gothic architecture of the Istituto Veneto in Palazzo Franchetti; afterwards on the side of the Accademia Galleries is the Peggy Guggenheim Museum and a little after Longhena’s Salute church, finally beside it the newly reopened and refurbished Old Dogana, with Pinault’s Contemporary Art Museum.

Spazio Vedova is then placed on the Canale delle Navi as one tip of a complex geometric shape, as seen from the Redentore church, not far from the Art Academy where Vedova used to teach. Such network devoted to modern and contemporary art is faced by the Marciana Library and the Basilica from which one sees San Giorgio, with Cini Foundation, San Servolo Island and the international University: an extraordinary journey ending by the Biennale’s Giardini.

The mission of the Fondazione doesn’t obviously end with the installation of Vedova’s works in the hall, for whom I nonetheless thank all those who contributed in its accomplishment with generosity and commitment. Foremost aim of the Fondazione is the study of Vedova’s works in its rich human and artistic dimension by means of research projects, analysis, cataloguing, filing, as well as necessary cultural initiatives developed in collaboration with national and international institutions.

Beside the exhibition centre and the studio (or better said the workshop) of the maestro, the Fondazione will build a centre for the restoration of contemporary art works, initiating a training centre for restorers in order to advance furthermore Venice’s role as a centre for high expertise development.