myvenice.org

Theodore Dubois and official art

Manuela - Sistema — 2012-04-23T10:08:27Z

Palazzetto Bru Zane is presenting an original monographic exhibition dedicated to a Romantic composet whose name is unknown to the mayority today: Theodore Dubois. Of ecletic inspiration, his extensive, diversified compositions cover all musical genres, revealing an art that is of the greatest fascination. Following in Dubbois' fottsteps, other contemporary composer wewrw summoned such as Gouvy, la Tombelle, Debussy, Paladilhe, Faurè,Duvernoy, Franck and Pleiffer. Born in 1837 in Rosnay, Born in 1837 in Rosnay, Théodore Dubois excelled at his studies at the Paris Conservatory, receiving countless awards, including the grand Prix de Rome in 1861. He began teaching at the Conservatory, first harmony and then composition, before going on to become the director. At the same time he held various posts in the Church, in particular as organist of the Church of the Madeleine. Having been esteemed so highly by official circles, after his death (1924) he was subjected to the prejudice linked to his institutional standing. For the fin-de-siècle French avant-garde, Dubois symbolised the tradition and artistic academism they were trying to escape.

Official art and academism were two different movements: while academism was theorised at the Institut de France, taught at the Conservatory and diffused by the Society of traditional concerts, official art encouraged strong characters such as the young Debussy or the fascinating Massenet with other means, including State support.

http://www.agendavenezia.org/en/ras...

Art Prize Laguna

Manuela - Sistema — 2012-03-09T10:45:48Z

The Premio Arte Laguna is back: 110 internationals artist from six disciplines: painting, sculpture, photography, video art, performance and for the first time, virtual art on IPad, side by side in a collective exhibition. The best performance artists will stage their works at a happening , during which the names of the winners of all categories will be announced www.premioartelaguna.it

A home in Venice for Corto Maltese

Marco Bottaro — 2011-09-02T09:44:18Z

Some comic characters just exist outside time, heroes that never age and that have a stable connection with the imaginative world surrounding them: Corto Maltese is one of them. He was created by the creativity of Hugo Pratt – master of comic drawing in Italy and abroad – at the peek of his artistic career. The character debuted (1957) in the serial Una ballata del mare salato (Ballad of the Salt Sea that marked the passage to a new type of comics (graphic novel): it narrated the adventures of an intriguing figure, a man dressed with a captain uniform, wearing a hat, a golden earring at his left ear, endowed with a thirst for adventure and a noble heart. The Home of Corto Maltese – created by Emanuela Marchesani, a great admirer of this figure – is not only dedicated to this special character and his creator but also aims to become an involving and pleasant place. The public will be allowed to learn in an amusing way; visitors will enter an environment that's not meant to be passive and austere but, on the contrary, to actively communicate the contents it safeguards: therefore it will also address new, non-traditional categories of audience, with new skills and interests. Workshops and aesthetical experiences shall be organized at the core of creative activities reflecting the spirit of adventure that characterized the figure of Corto Maltese. The House will also host other guest artists, including Guido Fuga and Lele Vianello, two historical colleagues of Pratt. On the 6th and 7th of August, a group of «Cree» indians will be hosted by the House and carry out a ritual dance performance, wearing tribal costumes and playing drums. (For further information: tel. 041 5233325; www.lacasadicorto.it; info@lacasadicorto.it)

Opening of the “Casa dei Tre Oci” (Giudecca Island)

Marco Bottaro — 2011-09-02T09:43:17Z

Last year (from the 1st of June to the 25th of September) the “Casa dei Tre Oci”, located on the Giudecca Island, reopened to host the artworks of more than 20 Russian contemporary artists. The Modernikon exhibition offers its visitors the opportunity to explore the Venetian Casa, purchased – with the exception of the third floor of the building - by Polymnia Venezia in 2000. This instrumental company has been created by Fondazione di Venezia in order to host the collections of the Fondo De Maria, Italo Zannier's archive as well as permanent exhibitions, cultural events, meetings, special occasions, parties and convivial gatherings. The Casa dei Tre Oci is an example of neo-Gothic architecture dating back to the first part of the twentieth century, it was designed in 1910 by Mario De Maria (Marius Pictor - photographer and artist) as his home and studio space and it was then built in 1913 on the Giudecca Island, in an area called “delle Zitelle”. Located close to Palazzo Minelli and to the complex of the Chiesa delle Zitelle, the Casa overlooks the Giudecca channel, providing an extraordinary view of Piazza San Marco, the Zattere and the Punta della Dogana. Looking from all these locations, the palace can be easily recognized thanks to its three big “eyes” - the large archi-acuti windows of the first floor - and its gothic mullioned window with two lights overlooking the balcony of the second floor, sided by two thin pinnacles made of Istrian stone. (Info: www.fondazionedivenezia.org)

Giorgio Bellavitis (1926-2009), son of town-planning, master of restoration

Marco Bottaro — 2011-09-02T09:42:48Z

Getting to know Venice in person - following the teacher of one of the most ‘basic' subjects studied during the first year of Venetian faculty of Architecture (Elements of architecture and relief of monuments) – walking along the calli and inside the houses, has been a fundamental experience in my life: one could really identify the urban design of the city by exploring the fabric of the buildings. The same could probably be stated by those that had the chance to meet Giorgio Bellavitis, working as an assistant of Egle Trincanato, the tenured professor, in the sixties. Only nowadays, reconstructing Bellavitis'ecletic biography, I could see that, back then, he was walking through an initiation path leading to the following phase of his life: a “fight in the field” to save Venice which had made him return to his hometown after the political, professional experiences and the studies carried out abroad.

Back then, in the assays, in the surveys and in most publications, Venice was mentioned as “the problem of Venice” and this obscure use of language seemed to imply that no adequate solution could possibly be found by the technicians and by the administrators. Bellavitis had a pragmatic approach, he wouldn't keep the students confined inside the Tolentini building, he would take them outside, walking hand in hand with the “design” and the “relief”. Following an urban approach, he would help us to recognize the present traces of Venetian evolution through centuries, identifying the connection between expert skills and centuries-old traditions. One could notice the sustainable intervention techniques – slight or more drastic – applied in the reconstruction of deteriorated monumental complexes or houses which structure had been modified in order to host – often large- families impoverished by war. The conflict had forced several Venetians to cohabit in conditions that had completely disrupted the originary structure of both prestigious and minor buildings. In that same period, Bellavitis had been fighting to safeguard the city of Venice with the Venetian section of Italia Nostra: he mounted a first exhibition at Palazzo Ducale called “Italia Nostra difende Venezia” (1959) and a series of shows - with photographic panels and structural-functional analysis of the lagoon city - that would then also be transferred abroad (Strasbourg 1962, London 1962-63). The title of London exhibition “Venice for Modern Man. Ten centuries of History confront Modern Town Planning” was emblematic of Bellavitis' urban approach in dealing with the transformation process required to turn Venice into a livable city for the “modern” man. He continued his work over the sixties: in 1968 he was appointed ‘person in charge' of the survey involving Venetian buildings, he carried out “a study including 392 detections and structural analysis indicating the reconstruction costs'” to demonstrate the viability of his approach and to draw international attention to a city that couldn't find the resources to get over the decay caused by the flood of 1966.

The message that Bellavitis was trying to convey was, in a nutshell, a very simple rule: if a restoration procedure is to be carried out on a “monument” that is not well-accomplished and no rigorous criteria of philological restoration can be applied, the process has to take into account the history of the city in terms of structural basic elements that, though often complex, can be clearly recognized by means of a solid interdisciplinary grounding (ranging from the historical analysis to the elaboration of a restoration project).

Bellavitis' historical-planning maturation began with his youth experiences in the field of comic book drawing (while he was a pupil of Cavanis, he worked for the satirical weekly newspaper Sior Tonin Buonagrazia) and then continued, during the period of the partisan struggle, with the collaboration with the newspaper “Vento di Montagna”, distributed by the Osoppo Brigade that he joined in 1943. These initial experiences led to a series of professional cooperations with several publishing houses, an activity that finally turned into his actual profession during the period he spent in London working as artistic director of Cosmopolitan and Uragano Comics Inc, a company that was a real legend in the field of comic book drawing and that launched Hugo Pratt, Dino Battaglia, Alberto Ongaro and others. In my opinion, the turning point in his carrier of successful drawer was his translation of the book “Garden Cities of Tomorrow”, written by Ebenezer Howard (Italian translation: L'idea della Città Giardino, published by Calderini, Bologna 1962). The return to town-planning marked the end of his brilliant career as a comic book drawer (after that, he only occasionally would draw illustrations for schoolbooks and encyclopedias) and led Bellavitis back to Venetian urban issues. Inspired by the words of Sansovino, he chose to settle in Venice, a city “connected to a time that's yet to come”, because “ nowhere else in the universe, man could find his rightful place”.

Since 1969, he started working mainly as an historian-architect, focusing on the restoration of buildings and monumental complexes (in association with his wife, Nani Valle, assistant of Ignazio Gardella at IUAV University). The list of assignments for the restoration and renovation of palaces near the Canal Grande starts with the work commissioned by Corner-Spinelli in 1966 and continues with Barbarigo della Terrazza (1969), Giustinian-Pesaro (1971), Balbi, Angaran and Pedenin (1973), Mocenigo Gambara (1991), Corner della Regina (1998), Rezzonico (2000), Foscari (2005). The list includes the restoration of the Church of S. Nicolò dei Mendicoli, the Loggetta del Sansovino and the convent of San Salvador; Bellavitis also designed the structure of the garden of Palace Venier dei Leoni (a museum of the Guggenheim Foundation), and finally carried out his last restoration work at Palazzo Giustinian, seat of the Biennale (2005).

The recent publication of a special edition of the bulletin of Venetian Civic Museums (titled “Architect Giorgio Bellavitis. Studies, discoveries, community considerations”, published by Skira-Marsilio, 2011) gives a significant contribution to the available information about this important figure through a new presentation of his least famous writings on the evolution of Venetian urban structure over centuries, particularly in the period between the 12th and the 15th century.

Restoration works are always developed according to the spatial context of their locations and of the city. The stones of Zorzi Palace, found at the beginning of the works, were a clear example of the decay of the monumental building constructed by Mauro Codussi in S. Severo. Ma Bellavitis, thank to his skills and experience (and respecting the original structure indicated in the Carta di Venezia – Map of Venice of 1964), through a three-year project, could “unveil the historic value of the monument, commenting on the witticism of the buyer-patron (Mario Zorzi) and on the “knowing irony” that existed between Zorzi and Codussi and their project to transform the original structure of a factory into a modern and majestic palace without having to rebuild it completely, thanks to a “scansion of combined, different units that Condussi will extensively use in subsequent buildings such as Corner Spinelli and Loredan Vendramin palace” (p.92).

The historical versatility and curiousity emerged from the studies on architect Codussi and painter Giorgione, define the roles they played in the transformation of Venetian figurative culture between the 15th and the 16th century. Their contributions to Longhena of Ca' Bon Rezzonico (the palace hosting the museum of Venetian art of eighteenth century, p.101) and to the architectural restoration of San Salvador (a convent system to be restored after the invasive works carried out in 1926) have helped the creation of modern buildings, often oriented towards future innovative functions, like the Telecom Future Centre designed for S.Salvador (p.110-125).

The picture outlined through the writings of Giorgio Bellavitis - published in the bulletin of Civic Museums - shows the figure of a Venetian returned to his hometown after several varied experiences in order to contribute, just like a surgeon, by restoration and renovation projects, to the regeneration of the urban fabric through the use of architecture. As Bellavitis stated “Just like Wright, that on the basis of organic architecture, creates buildings in harmony with nature, in renovation projects, I outline inner functional spaces of Venetian palaces in harmony with their perimetrical structure”. In 2009, when Bellavitis died, the mayor Massimo Cacciari declared: «His connection with Venice has always been characterized by an International approach, by cultural and intellectual openness, competence and professionalism” but he forgot to mention his fight for Venice, carried out facing even the most thankless or mortifying tasks as well as criticisms or bitter controversy, as the one that was triggered by the design and construction of the wooden bridge in Ca' Rezzonico. Moreover, he was assigned prestigious awards like the Torta Prize for restoration (1981), the Bannister Fletcher Prize (1982), the Elena Bassi Prize (2000) and accepted them with a timid smile.

After all, his job as an architect allowed him to draw for most of the time, with the same irony that characterized comic book drawing during the first years of his youth. Maybe, the real personality of Bellavitis can be found in the pseudonym he had chosen for himself when he was only 17 years old, during the involvement in the partisan struggle: Walt Disney (a nickname that was then turned into ‘Valdisna' by the commander of the Osoppo Brigade). Indeed, he has always proved to be frank, prudent, ironical and positive, just like Mickey Mouse, in his commitment to identify the best solution for the restoration of Venetian buildings.

Bellavitis was a learned, discreet and ironical man that maybe Venetians have never fully known and recognized and that hopefully will now be explored and enhanced through new related publications: just like this article that has been edited by MUVE thanks to the perseverance of Camillo Tonini.

A three-dimensional map of Venice with Ramses

Marco Bottaro — 2011-09-02T09:42:15Z

RAMSES (acronym of Rilievo Altimetrico, Modellazione Spaziale E Scansione3D – Altimetric Survey, Spatial Modeling and 3D scan) is an initiative that aimed to trace a three-dimensional relief of the historic centre of the city of Venice: its has been promoted by the municipal administration that contracted Insula to manage the project. RAMSES has been financed with Special Law funds amounting to approximately one million euro. The relief has been performed by a temporary joint venture composed by Tecap Studio srl and Innova Technology Solutions spa. RAMSES forms part of a series of long-term projects to safeguard Venetian lagoon performed by the Municipality through extra and scheduled maintenance and that, most of all, include the construction of the MOSE.

RAMSES project consisted in the creation of a very accurate plano-altimetric map of the pavement of the historic centre of Venice, obtained thanks to advanced laser scanners that allowed a full relief with a density of 8500 points per square metre of the entire floor (more than 20.000 scans). After this first phase, a three-dimensional representation of the city has been traced through an elaboration of the emerged results. According to the municipal administration, the carrying out of this project is vital for the development of other activities that deeply impact on the lagoon and the city. Accurate information about the structure of the pavement shall allow to predict the extension of the surface potentially affected by flooding, to calculate the elevation of building thresholds, to improve the set up of walkways and guarantee the transitability of people and goods. Moreover, the administration can use the planimetric and photographic relief to effectively organize maintenance activities concerning the water pipeline, the drainage system, the power distribution and the telephone networks located under the delicate pavement of the historic town centre.

Moreover, RAMSES can offer an extremely useful model to perform the simulation of any damages caused by tides in order to identify the areas where protection measures should be centered. In fact, this project is one of the key elements composing the plan of local interventions to safeguard the city from high water. The measures include, in some cases, the raising of the pavement and, in others, the sealing of riverbank's walls surrounding several islands of the historic centre.

Any information concerning the project and the services provided by RAMSES are available on the following website: www.ramses.it.

Venezia metropolis considerations and documents

Marco Bottaro — 2011-09-02T09:41:34Z

The commitment of Fondazione Venezia 2000 to the Venetian Metropolis didn't end with the OECD report, indeed this was only the stepping-stone in the development of a support project for the construction of the metropolitan city.

In his intervention, published on the Quaderno 8, Cesare De Michelis stresses the great opportunity, offered by the publication of a documented study as the one dedicated to Venice by the OECD, for the elaboration of new actions to be implemented in the area or for the reflection on the history of this crossroads that is, once again, the focus of attention.

There are several topics that could be analysed in order to proceed in the development of the metropolitan city project, but it's probably useful to start by addressing the critical aspects stressed in OECD's Report that – as underlined by Marino Folin in the Quaderno – offers some recommendations to overcome the conflictual aspects still present inside the metropolitan area in order to enhance it and to fully develop its inner potential and synergies.

In this sense, the difficulty arising from the iconographical representation of the metropolitan city and its features can be a limitation. Fondazione Venezia 2000 has recently opened a round table with local experts and scholars concerning the possible creation of an observatory for the metropolitan area, building on the considerations and analysis provided in the OECD Report.

Currently, even though some data derived from satellite pictures, geographical maps, orthophotos are actually available, there's a lack of specific conceptual elaborations that, on the one hand, can represent the metropolitan city and, on the other hand, can offer a clearer perception of the metropolitan structure.

This is a challenging goal requiring the involvement of several skills and knowledge in order to shape a project that can gather, share and enhance the acquired information and techniques.

A first contribution in this direction has been offered inside the second and the third part of the Quaderno, dedicated to the metropolitan city in terms of spatial planning and to the representation of the area through images, cartographies and projects.

Growing demand for culture in the Veneto region

Marco Bottaro — 2011-09-02T09:41:08Z

In the Triveneto area as in the rest of Italy, the demand for culture and the participation in cultural events are increasing despite economic crisis and the reduction of public fundings. This is the conclusion emerging from the VII Annual Federculture Report, a volume titled “La cultura serve al presente” (“The present needs culture”) by Roberto Grossi, with preface by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

According to Federculture Report, in 2010 more than 21% of Venetians has been to the theatre at least once, showing an attendance increase of 26.3% compared with the year 2000. Positive data are also shown in relation with the movies, ranking as the number-one entertainment activity. In the past year, the number of people living in the Veneto region that has been to the cinema at least once amounts to 47% of the total. Over the analyzed period, concert attendance has also increased, changing from 17.0% to 21.2% and +24.7% (classical music concerts).

Museum and Exhibition attendance has raised by 2.3%, while the amount of Venetians that has visited a monument or watched a sport event has remained practically unchanged. Discotheque attendance has drastically decreased and involves 22% of people older than 6 years old and living in the Veneto region. Also in the Friuli area, data are positive showing a 20% increase for both movies and classical music concert attendance. In 2010, in Trentino Alto Adige nearly 1 out of 3 residents has been to a theatre, 43% has visited at least a museum or attended an exhibition and 28% has been to a concert.

Overall, according to the Report, the North-east area has promoted cultural activities and schedules more focused on the local cultural demand (also in small and medium cities) and involving complex events reaching wider areas for longer periods, all year long, rather than just concerning a few big exhibitions as in other areas of the country.

By the way, also large and important exhibitions have taken place: The Venetian Biennale of Architecture ranks as the fourth Italian top cultural event in terms of attendance (2000 visitors per day). Conegliano has hosted Cima exhibition, placed at the 13th position of the national ranking, with 1000 visitors per day. Among museums, Palazzo Ducale ranks third in Italy for number of visitors, following Vatican museums and Uffizi, while Eremitani Civic Museums and the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua remain at the 28th position, as in 2009.

Moreover, the Report states that live shows (more than 230.000) organized in the Veneto region in 2010 have generated a turnover of 632 million and an audience expenditure of 462 million, nearly a third of national spending which amounts to 1.662 million. At a national level, the amount of money that Italian families spend on culture and shows still adds up to 7% of their total expenditure, it has increased by 24.3% in absolute terms between 1999 and 2009.

This positive trend of demand once again shows the importance of placing cultural activities at the core of local and national economic policies enhancing the fundamental value of culture, “…as awareness, education, access to knowledge that can reduce inequalities, fight poverty and ease social distress” as Roberto Grossi writes in the Report “…and transforming activities aimed to promote and enhance culture into core opportunities for citizens…consolidating the substratum of social and individual identity which underlies to a great degree the sense of belonging to a single project for the common good.”

On the contrary, the data concerning Italian International competitiveness are still negative. Italy ranks 48th in the World Economic Forum's classification, turning out to be the European country that reaches the lowest position in terms of competitiveness.

Moreover, according to OECD's rankings, Italy is at the second last place in terms of spending in education in relation with the GDP (4.5% of GDP in comparison with the OECD's average value of 5.7%) and with total public expenditure that in Italy amounts to 9% compared to 13.3% of OECD's average data. Italian school drop-out adds up to 19.7% in comparison with European average of 14.9%.

Newsletter 22-07-2011

Marco Bottaro — 2011-07-22T15:44:59Z

See the movie: The Porta Nuova Tower

The renovations of the Porta Nuova Tower at the Arsenale have been finalised

Wednesday 20 July 2011

See the movie: The Porta Nuova Tower

Marco Bottaro — 2011-07-20T16:09:43Z

The 'Second Chance' Project has been launched after the completion of the restoration works in April 2011. The tower is the place where the Pilot Action of the European Project Second Chance is implemented by the Arsenale of Venice spa and the Municipality of Venice that are partners together with other eight public and private agencies. The Second Chance project started in January 2010 and it will end in June 2013. It has been approved in the framework of the European Programme Central Europe 2007-2013 and it is aimed at the revitalisation of abandoned industrial zones by transforming them in cultural and creative spaces: besides Venice, the cities of Leipzig, Nuremberg, Krakow and Ljubljana are involved The renovations of the Porta Nuova Tower at the Arsenale have been finalised.

The recovery of the Porta Nuova Tower in the Venice Arsenal