BEING VENICE – VENETIAN JUSTICE
September 20, 2015. A100 meters white heart in St.Mark’s Square in Venice for the 12th and final performance of “Venice Revealed”: the project conceived by writer Alberto Toso Fei and multi-media artist Elena Tagliapietra.
“Being Venice” a large collective performance featuring hundreds of volunteers took place on Saturday, September 20 from 6-7:30PM on Saint Mark’s Square. Directly after the performance, at 8:00PM at Pescherio di Rialto, “Venetian Justice” was read to mark the official closing of a 2 year long project.
Sunday, September 20th, Elena Tagliapietra and Alberto Toso Fei presented the final performance of their project Venice Revealed that included an entire day of performances to show the world the love Venetians have for their ancient yet modern city. Featuring striking collective performance Essere Venezia – Being Venice followed by a selected reading from “Venetian Justice”
The collective performance, conceived and directed by the artist Elena Tagliapietra, was made by a hundred Venetians who met at St. Mark’s at 6 pm and who, following the artist’s instructions, formed the shape of a heart that began to glow after sunset first with some cracks that eventually disappeared as the entire heart illuminated. Revealing the unmatched expression of love “del cuore” the Venetians have for their unique city.
All of the participants were dressed in white, the color of purity, justice, hope and enlightenment recalling the long history of the human rights struggle in the Republica Serenissima. All of the participants wore a signature heart on their faces provided by many volunteer face painters with the help of Diamond FX make up (a specialty body paint/make-up manufacturer) The high number of face paintings could actually be a World Record. Each volunteer received as a gift a white umbrella provided by Al Duca d’Aosta which was used to create the unique visual of the pulsing heart. Inside the heart were shown also some dance performances with featuring Sara Bonfanti and Silvia Minervino, the group WorkInProgress with Federica De Pol and Michela’s Pedrocco coreography and the energic Palextra’s crew Leaded by Michela Vivolo.
The performance culminates in a beating heart with a three-dimensional effect never seen before in this square projecting true feeling and creating a beating heart in a jeweled case. The spontaneous applause heard from the inside of the heart illustrated the deep emotional experience that the participants shared. After the creation of the “bocolo” (rosebud) this image will go circle the world on social media highlighting the deep love between Venetians and their city.
Writer Alberto Toso Fei recounted stories from Venetian history. First with a flash reading in St. Mark’s square and additional readings beginning at 8:30PM at Pescheria Rialto. He talked about the laws that Venice has issued through the course of its history. Venice was the first State to abolish slavery in 960AD, the first to regulate the use of child labor at the end of the 14th century. The first State to recognize intellectual property with the creation of the first “copyright” and the First State to enact laws to protect the rights of women.
During the reading in Rialto Venetian Justice, videos of the previous performances that presented by many local and international charities that helped make this project possible. The international association partner of this performance is The Chelko Foumdation of Atlanta, represented by Development Director Ken Goldwasser. The Foundation exists to empower women through art, education and partnership working for an and to gender discrimination and violence against women and girls. Another partner of this performance is Rialto Mio promoting local culture and the participation of Venetians, particularly children and seniors, to the popular happenings of the city. The event has also obtained the patronage of the World Bodypainting Association. .
There will be a reception after the closing ceremony sponsored by Osteria VecioPozzo in collaboration with Iperdrink and Flairtender. Offering a tipical venetian buffet. The founders say: “Time has come for all Venetians, who love this city to fight to keep it alive and return it to the poeople”.
This final performance of Venice Revealed draws to a close over two years of partnership with other major Venetian festivals including Redentory, The Historical Regatta, Festa Di San Martino, the Carneval of 2014, Natali di Venezia, Festa Del Bocolo, Festa Della Sensa, 71st Exhibition of Cinema, The Burano Regatta, Befane Regatta, and Carnival 2015.
Venice Revealed is produced in collaboration with Vela Spa, organizational support by 2erre Organizzazioni and the patronage of the Venice Department of Culture. Musical compositions for all Venice Revealed events were created by Mattia Corso.
