The Venetian gondola!

The black, shiny boat carries on still today a particular charm, due to its elegant sinuous line and the wonderful environment in which it moves, plus its unique construction and the symbolism that it stands for. Are you now inquiring?
Every detail of the gondola has its own symbolism, especially the metal parts, whose formal elegance is combined with practicality and usefulness.
The iron prow-head of the gondola, called “fero da prorà” or “dolphin”, is needed to balance the weight of the gondolier at the stern, actually it also represents a synthetic view of Venetian land and symbols.

The iron prow-head of the gondola

As you can see in the picture, the iron prow-head has an “S” shape symbolic of the twists in the Canal Grande.

While, the top part represents the Doge’s hat, as a tribute to the most important and powerful figure of the Serenissima’s Republic. Under his control it’s displayed the Rialto Bridge and the Saint Mark’s basin, city’s heart for trades and relationships.

The history of the gondola and the history of Venice are thus intertwined.
Under the main blade there is a kind of comb with six teeth or prongs (“rebbi”) standing for the six districts (“sestieri”) of Venice: San Marco, San Polo, Santa Croce, Castello, Dorsoduro and Cannareggio.
Sometimes three friezes can be seen in-between the six prongs, pairing the sestieri, indicating the three main islands of the city: Murano, Burano e Torcello. Whereas the tooth looking backwards symbolizes the island of Giudecca.
Do you know yet in which sestiere the Best Western Premier Hotel Sant’Elena is located? Sant’Elena’s area belongs to district of Castello.

The Castello’s district is the most eastern part of Venice, comparing Venice to a fish, it’s the tail. The name originates from a fortification built in Olivolo’s Island, nowadays San Pietro di Castello Island. There you can find the San Pietro di Castello’s Cathedral, episcopal church until 1807, year in which Napoleone moved the episcopal headquarter to Saint Mark’s Cathedral.

It borders on Saint Mark’s district, which is connected from Paglia’s Bridge, and the Cannareggio district to which is connected via San Giovanni and Paolo’s Bridge. In the side facing the south of the lagoon is found Riva degli Schiavoni, the name of the Dalmatians merchants that here moored their ships and traded their products.
The huge complex of the Arsenal occupies a significant portion of the district and about one-sixth of the entire surface area of the center island. The Arsenal was crucially important for the Serenissima’s Republic, as a matter of fact it was a strategic center of his power and important factory ships. Now is owned by the Navy and is the principal venue of the Biennale, along with the Public Gardens.
Present-day Castello is the second most populated district of Venice and is a zone very typical. You can find the real Venetian atmosphere. Popular buildings leaning to one, narrow streets, small artisan shops lend the air of a classic old fishing village.
Do not give up a stroll in this beautiful and traditional district … away from the crowds, there is a hidden Venice full of unforgettable places where you can breathe the Venice’s atmosphere.

The Encyclopedic Palace

Thinking Biennale, is displayed the promenade that connects Saint Mark Square to the Giardini, passing through Riva degli Schiavoni and Riva dei Sette Martiri. Or the broad Garibaldi’s boulevard leading us to the striking and imposing Arsenale’s building. Two venues in which the 88 participating nations tell their point of view on contemporary art and on the theme proposed by the curator, Massimiliano Gioni: The Encyclopedic Palace.

The Best Western Premier Hotel Sant’Elena wants yet to suggest you to visit “The Another Biennale”, because Biennale is not completed with the only visit of the Giardini and the Arsenale. All around Venice is on stage the contemporary art: collateral events related to the exhibition, and others who choose to open simultaneously with the main event. A juxtaposition of openings,  previews and conferences that are going to liven up the city, out of the circuit’s classic stages.

The Biennale as an urban phenomenon, this is the purpose of the 55th International Art Exhibition’s President. The 48 events that come under the official calendar are promoted by national and international no-profit institutes. They offer a wide range of contributions and participations that enrich voices’ pluralism that characterizes the Venice’s exhibition.

Here you can find a road map of titles that you do not miss! This map will help you to orient yourselves between cultures, concepts, palaces and artistic venues.

Collateral Events Map

You just need to clear some space on your planner and extend your cultural itinerary!

Disposition

Disposition

This year, in a peaceful war by shooting art stars, to be talked about is Zuecca Project Space, a new non-profit cultural platform in collaboration with Lisson Gallery, that presents the only solo in 2013 of the artist, designer and Chinese activist Ai Weiwei.

Weiwei, in addition to exhibiting a work within the collective sets up in the Germany Pavilion, he is going to be present at the Complesso delle Zitelle and at the church of Sant’Antonin with the exhibition Disposition, that is going to present only new works by the artist.

In the Complesso delle Zitelle, Ai Weiwei will present Straight, the first project developed using the long steel reinforcing bars recuperated from the schools which collapsed during the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. This work, a version of which was first presented at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. in 2012, is here installed in a larger scale at Zuecca Project Space.

Ai Weiwei is known internationally for his work reflecting present-day China and his concern with human rights and freedom of expression. This large scale and site-specific presentation for the 55th International Art Exhibition, presents us with an immediate sense of the drama of an event which underlines the contradictory development of contemporary China.

While in the Church of Sant’Antonin will be exhibit a site specific project focused on commercial relationships between Venice and China.

Curated by Maurizio Bortolotti, the exhibition will be opened from May 29th to September 15th.

Zuecca Project Space/Complesso delle Zitelle, Giudecca 32 (Fondamenta delle Zitelle)

Chiesa di Sant’Antonin, Castello (Salizada Sant’Antonin)

Back 2 back to Biennale – Free Expresison

Back 2 Back to Biennale

An unusual event for Biennale, which upsets the classical concept of exhibition with a dynamic presentations of works created by several writer crews. For the first time this artistic movement is protagonists of a Biennale’s collateral event, as a phenomenal that has theorized and explained the many and different manners of self-expression.

The Back to Back to Biennale project is a cultural event, which from a certain collective and generation-wise point of view is characterized by performances that the artists deliver, with no filter whatsoever from a Curator or a thematic point of view, there is freedom of expression, as the subtitle claims.

Campo Sant’Agnese and Campo Santo Stefano are the locations for the artistic performances, while Ca’ Bonvicini is the main venue, where the works are going to be exhibited.

From June 1^st to November 24^th.

Campo Sant’Angese, Dorsoduro, Campo Santo Stefano e Ca’ Bonvicini, Santa Croce 2161

Bart Dorsa – Katya

Katya

Russia has always strongly been present in the Biennale’s history with collateral events and pavilion’s exhibitions. For the 55^th Edition we suggest you an exhibition organized by the Modern Art museum of Moscow that presents the solo of the American artist Bart Dorsa, titled “Katya”.

Katya is an exhibition of collodion and silver glass photographic plates and bronze sculpture presented in a specifically organized dark space. The project delivers an intimate story of a Russian girl discovered in Moscow by the American artist. Katya’s journey from strict Orthodox monastic life, where she spent 10 years from the age of 3 to 13, to the Moscow underground is chronicled on her skin, face and body.

Her form has been imprinted on glass and in bronze sculpture to describe Katya’s journey and the archetype of mythic crossroads, which is a primary theme of Dorsa’s work. The exhibition is as much a penetrating psychological portrait of Katya, as a self-portrait of the artist.

May 29th – September 15th

Dorsoduro 417 (Fondamenta delle Zattere)

Passage to History: 20 Years of La Biennale di Venezia and Chinese Contemporary Art

Passage to History. Wang Guangyi

2013 marks the twentieth anniversary of the participation of Chinese contemporary artists to the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia; it also marks twenty years of economic, cultural and artistic exchange between China and the West.

The exhibition is a tribute to the last 20 years developed by the Italian critic Achille Bonito Oliva and the Chinese art historian Lu Peng.  Through this time period there is a recorded change in accepted attitudes toward Chinese culture and its international identity in the Western world, as well as toward China’s contribution to contemporary art, particularly in painting. The theme of exhibition, passage to history, derives from this? Actually, we can clearly see that it was the combined efforts of Chinese contemporary artists and critics at home and abroad, as well as those Western curators with a passion for art that made this precious period of Chinese contemporary art history possible.

June 1st – November 24th

Arsenale Nord, Nappa 89

In Grimani. Ritsue Mishima Glass Works

In Grimani. Ritsue Mishima Glass Works

The exhibition will be hosted in Grimani Palace and it will be a unique event that originally matches Japanese and Italian culture.

In Grimani. Ritsue Mishima Glass Works is the first contemporary art exhibition created for the rooms of a museum, which used to be the former residence of a powerful sixteenth-century Venetian family. The glass works by Ritsue Mishima are the brainchild of long periods spent into the palace.

The artist, who has been living in Venice since 1989, expresses herself using the ancient craft culture of the furnace and Murano glass masters give shape to her ideas, as witnessed by the pictures taken by Rinko Kawauchi, to whom a room has been dedicated, allowing us to see a poetic vision of the mysteries of glass working and the furnace.

May 30th – September 29th

Palazzo Grimani di Santa Maria Formosa, Castello 4858 (Ruga Giuffa)

Perspectives by John Pawson

Perspectives

Swarovski’s Foundation promotes a singular vision of the artist John Pawson, that reveals a new perspective of the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore.

Perspectives offers the visitor a unique view of the beauty of Andrea Palladio’s architectural masterpiece. The combination of a concave Swarovski crystal meniscus and a larger reflective hemisphere creates a dramatic optical experience that brings new light to the interior of the famous Benedictine basilica.

The Swarovski Foundation’s mission to promote creativity and innovation through working with architects, artists and designers demonstrates its commitment to the artistic community and beyond.

June 1st – November 24th

Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore

Rhizoma (Generation in Waiting)

Arabian Countries do not give up to participate to the event that puts spotlight on contemporary art. They have chosen the suggestive venue of Magazzini del Sale (Salt warehouses) to focus on Arabian art concept.

Edge of Arabia is an independent arts initiative developing the appreciation of contemporary Arab art and culture with a particular focus on Saudi Arabia. Their exhibition for the 55th International Art Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia, RHIZOMA (Generation in Waiting), curated by Sara Raza and Ashraf Fayadh, draws its inspiration from a younger generation of Saudi artists, and embraces visual art alongside technology, science and natural philosophy.

Curator Sara Raza explains “Curatorially the exhibition’s title and premise re-appropriates the concept of a rhizome, the underground stem of a plant that shoots roots laterally as opposed to upwards, as a metaphor for the current generation of Saudi Arabia’s thriving art scene.”

May 30th – September 24th

Magazzino del Sale, Dorsoduro 262 (Fondamenta delle Zattere)

Discover, imagine and dream… this is Biennale!

Here you can find the full list of the

official collateral events

It’s easy to get lost among the many pavilions at the Biennale of Architecture: more than sixty contributions from the main exhibition, “Common Ground”, especially since many of the works are also small independent exhibitions.

So, come with us for a much closer look at some of these works of art.

The first one we’d like to talk about is called “Condensed space”: this work combines the common features of a place like “Common Ground” in a way that creates unique spaces of perception available to the visitors.

A little further on, before entering the Virgin’s Garden, the visitors are invited to cross the contribution by Eduardo Souto de Moura: a pavilion in the open air, three small rooms of sand-colored walls, all lined up along a corridor. Inside, a wide hole in the walls creates a sort of three-dimensional visual system.

The installation by Souto de Moura is only a few steps away from the one by Álvaro Siza: with three walls mutually staggered, this piece forms a frame around some old plane trees by assigning them the role of a work of art!

What are you waiting for? If you want to discover these and even more beautiful works of art “Last Minute Biennale” is the offer for you!

“Vaporetto” is the special water bus used by the venetians for the public transport in order to exploit Venice’s conformation and its canals to move within the lagoon. With the “vaporetto” you can get to know the most authentic Venice, far from the crowding center: the right place to be is on the islands where you will find the real venetians and also where you will be able to do the most wonderful shopping!

You can easily reach the famous glass factories of Murano, the wonderful shops selling hand embroidered lace in Burano and buy typical products related to agriculture in Sant’Erasmo! Only in Venice you can have all of this: a water bus, a guarantee both in terms of speed and efficiency, and these wonderful little shops with the most gorgeous souvenirs!

Take a look at all the wonderful things you can get while in Venice right here!

All aboard: the “vaporetto” is waiting for you! Discover the venetian islands and be ready to stock up for gifts in advance for your Christmas!

The artistic heritage of Venice, admired and appreciated by adults, often bored children: how many times they are forced to accompany their parents and do not understand the real beauties and the treasures that they are admiring perhaps for the first and only time in their lives?

“Families at the Museum” is a great initiative designed by the city of Venice to please the children: they can discover all the treasures of Venice! This is truly an unusual and extraordinary experience that provide a new image of the “museum” seen as a place of fun and aggregation.

From drawing to music, from the reconstruction of the life at the time of the dinosaurs up to improvise themselves as detectives at the Museum of Natural History: all the proposals are like a play design to be fun and stimulating at the same time. Children can understand what a work of art is, the powers of observation and analysis, the respect for the cultural heritage.

The sites involved are very prestigious: Doge’s Palace, Correr Museum, Ca’ Rezzonico – Museum of Eighteenth Century, Ca’ Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art and Museum of Natural History.

And after a day spent out at the museum why not relax yourself at our Best Western Premier Hotel Sant’Elena, where mums and dads can choose the option of a room dedicated entirely to children: the Kids Room. All the exclusive comfort of a Junior Suite but with the special emphasis on little guest! And when it’s meal time there is a delicious menu specifically designed for children, including a very special breakfast with a wide selection of mouthwatering treats to start the day cheerfully and with fun.

Here is the complete calendar of the events:

Sunday, October 21st 2012

Correr Museum: “Oil painting with Guardi” ~ Museum of Natural History: “Explore the wilderness”

Sunday, October 28th 2012

Correr Museum: “Detective at the Museum” ~ Museum of Natural History: “Dance and music from Africa” ~ Ca’ Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art: “The animated paper: pop – up lesson”

Sunday, November 4th 2012

Ca’ Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art: “Images and sounds” ~ Museum of Natural History: “A whale in the Museum”

Sunday, November 11th 2012

Correr Museum: “Drawing” ~ Museum of Natural History: “The fabulous world of parrots”

Sunday, November 18th 2012

Ca’ Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art: “Modeling Clay” ~ Museum of Natural History: “Crocodiles”

Sunday, November 25th 2012

Doge’s Palace: “The stone book” ~ Ca’ Rezzonico – Museum of Eighteenth Century: “Fresco”

Sunday, December 2nd 2012

Ca’ Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art: “The sea’s colors” ~ Museum of Natural History: “The dinosaur has pooped”

Sunday, December 9th 2012

Correr Museum: “Oil painting with Guardi” ~ Museum of Natural History: “The fabulous world of parrots”

Sunday, December 16th 2012

Ca’ Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art: “Ornaments and decorations” ~ Museum of Natural History: “Dance and music from Africa”

Single ticket cost 8.00 euro per participant; combined tickets cost 20.00 euro per family (for a maximum of 4 people, including at least one adult). Tickets can be purchased online at www.visitmuve.it or until 3.00 p.m. on the Friday before the activity (any remaining tickets can be bought directly at the ticket office of the museums on Saturday or on the same day in which the activity takes place). For more information: education@fmcvenezia.it or call + 39 041 2700370.

How would you like to spend your stay in Venice? Do you want to enjoy the Art with the 13th International Architecture Exhibition of Venice Biennale (“Common Ground”), famous all over the world or you are in the mood for a little shopping around the islands of Venice, full of nice shops and unique items?

The first exclusive offer, “Last minute Biennale”, is dedicated to the Venice Biennale– Architecture: if you stay at least 2 nights, we offer you a refund on two tickets to see “Common Ground”, a single exhibition through the Central Pavilion at the Giardini and the Arsenale, 69 projects by architects, photographers, artists, critics and scholars. The exhibition designed by David Chipperfield is spread over 10.000 square meters in a path from the Central Pavilion at the Giardini to the Arsenale.

But if you just want to go out for some shopping, take a “vaporetto” (the special water bus used by the venetians for the public transport): you can get to know the most authentic Venice, far from the crowding center… the right place to be is on the islands where you will find the real venetians.

With this second exclusive offer, “Boat of shopping”, you can easily reach the famous glass factories of Murano, the wonderful shops selling hand embroidered lace in Burano or buy typical products related to agriculture in Sant’Erasmo! For a minimum two nights stay, you will receive two 24 hour valid ticket to the “vaporetto” for your shopping.

Discover the Art or treat yourself with some fun shopping in Venice and enjoy all that this magical city can to offer to you!

If you happen to be in Venice you just can’t miss the great opportunity to visit the wonderful 13th International Architecture Exhibition titled Common Ground, open to the public from Wednesday August 29th until Sunday November 25th 2012, at the Giardini della Biennale and at the Arsenale.

The Exhibition designed by David Chipperfield, a person who entertains a very intense vision of architecture as practice, is spread over 10.000 square meters and it comprises 69 projects made by architects, photographers, artists, critics and scholars from all over the world for a total of 119 participants. It’s interesting to note that, this year, four nations are participating for the first time: Angola, the Republic of Kosovo, Kuwait and Peru. Argentina exhibits for the first time in its own pavilion in the space newly renovated of the Sale d’Armi at the Arsenale.

This year’s theme brings back the talking about real architecture in order to help architects emerge from the crisis of identity and, at the same time, present to the public a chance to look inside this world, make architecture familiar and more close to people’s lives.

Chipperfield clarifies that he chose this theme “to encourage my colleagues to react against the prevalent professional and cultural tendencies of our time that place such emphasis on individual and isolated actions. I encouraged them instead to demonstrate the importance of influence and of the continuity of cultural endeavor, to illustrate common and shared ideas that form the basis of an architectural culture”.

“Italy remains the spiritual home of architecture – adds Chipperfield. Here we can fully understand the importance of buildings not as individual spectacles but as the manifestations of collective values and as the settings for daily life. This tangible sense of context and history remind us that our built world is a testament to the continuous evolution of architectural language and critical to our understanding of the world around us. With this in mind, I was inspired to direct this Biennale towards concerns of continuity, context and memory, towards shared influences and expectations, and to address the apparent lack of understanding that exists between the profession and society”.

The Venice Film Festival ended Saturday, September 8th and, as often happens, many of the predictions have been disregarded, twists at the last time occurred and the Italian cinema, in this competition with three films (“Sleeping Beauty”, “It’s been the son” and “Special Day”) remained left empty-handed. But let’s see in detail how things went!

The “Leone d’oro” for “Best film” went to the favorite of the Festival, the Korean’s “Pity” by Kim Ki-duk, while the “Leone d’argento” went to “The Master” by Paul Thomas Anderson. The two movies were the big favorites at the Festival and the jury wanted, in some way, reward them both, though preferring the violent scenes of “Pity” to the introspection of “The Master”.

Anderson’s film, however, has yielded the “Coppa Volpi” for best actor: a tie between the great Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix, both applauded for their great performance. Many have predicted that the film will have great chances to win at the next Oscars night!

The “Coppa Volpi” for Best Actress was a big surprise: Hadas Yaron was awarded for her role in Rama Bursthein’s “Lemale et ha’chalal” (Israel). She won over the two big favorites actresses of this edition: Isabelle Huppert (“Sleeping Beauty”) and Cho Min-soo (“Pity”).

The films that have most disappointed critics and audiences were three: “Passion” by Brian De Palma, that turned out to be a weak and predictable thriller; “Special Day” by Cristina Comencini, a weak drama-comedy; and “To The Wonder” by Terrence Malik, a movie that seems to go nowhere.

Some bitter feelings about the lack of recognition to Brillante Mendoza for his documentary-movie “Thy Womb”, ignored for his wonderful direction.

Now the word is up to the public: some films seen at the Festival are already in theaters (“Sleeping Beauty”), others will come out in the coming weeks (“Pity”, “It was The Son”), with a few exceptions (“The Master” is scheduled for January 2013).

From the Venice Film Festival… see you next year!

Only two more days for the Venice Film Festival: tomorrow will be the time for the prizes and that will drop the curtain on the 69th edition of the kermesse.

Many surprises, some disappointments and a lot of expectations. Among the surprises, “At Any Price”, the movie directed by Ramin Bahrani starring Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron: no one expected a work of such depth and with so much convincing actorial ability.

Branded as an incoherent movie and devoid of any artistic quality, “Spring Breakers”, with the bad girls Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Selena Gomez, was to be the scandal of the whole Film Festival but received a severe rap, both by the public and the critics.

On the other hand, great success for “Bad” by Spike Lee, a documentary lasting two hours on Michael Jackson and his music: a funny and witty movie that will appeal to both longtime fans of the singer and casual viewers.

Disappointing reactions for “The fifth season” by Jessica Woodworth and Peter Brosens: after a fun and interesting start, the film ends by proposing excessive scenes in a vain attempt to be authorial.

Speaking of Italian’s cinema, Cristina Comencini offers her “Special Day” with Filippo Scicchitano and Giulia Valentini; today, however, we are all eagerly awaiting the return of Brian De Palma with his new film “Passion” a co-production between France and Germany, which tells of the thirst for power and money through the clash of two wicked women (Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace).

Lastly, for the “Great Classics Restored”, the timeless masterpiece by Billy Wilder “Sunset Boulevard” with Gloria Swanson in a role of a lifetime.

Ninth day of screenings at the Venice Film Festival. Today opens the competition the much expected “Sinapupunan” (“Thy Womb”) by Brillante Mendoza (from the Philippines): the plot talk about Shaleha who lives in a village on the island of Tawi-Tawi. She is in despair because she cannot have children and decided to find a new wife for her husband Bangas.

Meanwhile, a few days before the end of the kermesse, forecasts are going on like crazy: after the great disappointment of “To The Wonder” by Terrence Malik, seems more and more certain that the ”Leone d’oro” for Best Film will be disputed between Korea (with “Pity” by Kim Ki-duk) and America (with Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master”), but the Venice Film Festival has often surprised us with unexpected twists.

In general, the Italian films were better received than the foreigners ones: just think about Ivano De Matteo’s “The equilibrits” or “It was the son” by Daniele Ciprì that received the most positive critical reviews. Marco Bellocchio’s “Sleeping Beauty”, however, does not seem to have moved the public opinion as it was in the forecast and received a positive but not enthusiastic reception.

Isabelle Huppert, who starred in the Bellocchio’s movie, plays a famous actress withdrew from the scenes to take care of her daughter that lives in a vegetative state, once again proves her greatness.

On the red carpet there are already running rumors of a probable victory as Best Actress for Huppert though, Cho Min-soo, star of “Pity”, has many supporters and her dramatic tour-de-force in Ki-duk’s movie, could be worth the “Coppa Volpi”. For the Korean actress would be the first time, while Isabelle Huppert has already won the prestigious award twice: in 1988 for “Une affaire de femmes” and in 1995 for “The Cérémonies”, both directed by Claude Chabrol.

In the “Venice’s Classics – Restored Movies”, great anticipation for the tonight screening of one of the masterpieces by Roberto Rossellini, “Stromboli”. The film, in addition to its artistic value, is also famous for having given birth to a great love story between the director and the actress Ingrid Bergman that, at the height of her Hollywood career, left everything behind and moved to Italy to start a great artistic and personal collaboration with Rossellini.