By chance I came across a notebook store in Salizzada dei Greci on my first day in town. The store is run by a father and son duo and the notebooks are made on site in the store with a lot of love. While the father is responsible for the leather covers, the son takes care of the paper. The notebooks and sketchbooks come in all colors and sizes, blank as well as squared and lined. The paper has a great quality and even with ink pens no color pushes through. The notebooks start at € 10 in terms of price. I came back again and bought a few pocket sketchbooks for the next trips. I can only recommend this small, family-run place!
Ava Rasti and Venezia Fabrica Futura
At the Olivetti showroom by Carlo Scarpa there was a poster indicating that the same evening was "art night" in Venice and that many free concerts and exhibitions were taking place in the city. This is how I became aware of the concert by composer, pianist and bassist Ava Rasti from Tehran. She explores electronic ambient sound worlds and gave a small concert that evening in the courtyard of “Complesso dell’Ospedaletto”. We all sat on the floor, ate free ice cream and listened to the sounds of her bass. A magical moment. Before the concert I went to see the work in the course of the Venezia Fabrica Futura, which inspired me very much and made me reflect on the future of the city.
“An eco-critical laboratory of a contemporary Venice projected into the future.
Fabrica Research Centre arrives at Complesso dell’Ospedaletto in Venice with the intention of creating an eco-critical research laboratory concerning the lagoon city and its complex ecosystem. This laboratory »Venezia Fabrica Futura« explores alternative futures already present in the lagoon and proposes a reflection on local ecologies of co-existence in an era marked by global political, economic and environmental crises. (…)”
Venice and the Anthropocene
I had already read a lot about the Librairie Acqua Alta and expected it to be very crowded, which it was. The store is very small and full of tourists. Nevertheless, I found it very worth seeing and the book selection was very good. You need a little patience and maybe a little luck to be there at the right time.
I found a super interesting book there that I started reading right away. A very relevant book called “Venice and the Anthropocene”:
“What does Venice look like when observed from the perspective of climate change, environmental collapse, and human-animal relations in an age of industrialization and mass extinction? That is, as a privileged observatory of the Anthropocene?”
Biennale Architettura 2023
I also visited the Biennale Architettura and mainly focused on the exhibitions in the pavilions of the Giardini. I particularly liked the Biennale as a whole this year, because the pavilions have chosen very important and socially relevant topics. I was most impressed by the works in the Austrian, Danish, Spanish and German pavilions. Besides topics like rising sea levels, reconstruction, connectivity, care and sustainable materials, the spanish pavilion e.g. focused on the food industry and its architectures.
