9. The landscape as a museum: the Salt Marsh Path

“Lagoon Micro-ecologies”, is the title of the second series of itinerant conversations “Venice as a Model for the Future?” curated by Barbara Casavecchia and Pietro Consolandi for TBA21−Academy and Ocean Space.

This new chapter moves beyond the urban boundaries of the city of Venice towards the islands of its lagoon. The participants direct their steps and gazes to the land and the seascapes created by the interaction between various species, not only human, that inhabit them: from coastal sand to garden soil, from salt marshes, a thriving home to wild plants and birds, to seabeds populated by tiny fish and molluscs.

In inviting us to rethink landscapes as “assemblages” of coexisting life forms, requiring “habits of noticing”, scholar and anthropologist Anna Tsing reminds us that they are “open-ended gatherings. They allow us to ask about communal effects without assuming them. They show us the potential histories in the making.”*

We will continue to explore the Venetian Lagoon through its most unique micro-ecosystem, a significant litmus test for the relationship between human and natural environments through the centuries: the salt marshes. Together with the Ecomuseo dei Lazzaretti Veneziani, which this year invites residents and visitors to the “Civiltà sull’Acqua” (Civilization on the Water) festival, we will be walking along the nature trail of the Lazzaretto Nuovo island and the ancient military patrol route outside the walls, in which the landscaping aspect of the Ecomuseum meets species of flora and fauna that couldn’t exist elsewhere.

The Venetian Lagoon is the largest lagoon in the Mediterranean, and the most important wetland in Italy for aquatic birdlife. The “Salt Marsh Path”, the first natural trail of its kind conceived for educational purposes, was created with the Natural History Museum of Venice. It offers a close-up view of an ancient and threatened ecosystem, and a perspective on the synergy between salt marshes and islands.

9:45am at Ocean Space. 11:00am ritrovo at the Lazzaretto Nuovo island.

Participation is free, please make a reservation at info@ocean-space.org.

Limited places available. We remind you that transport via vaporetto is at the expense of participants.

The Lazzaretti Veneziani project is promoted by two associations: Ekos Club and the Venice Chapter of the Archeoclub d’Italia. The project headquarters are on the island of Lazzaretto Nuovo, in the northern part of the Venice Laguna, the only one of the lesser islands of the Venetian archipelago to have been rescued from neglect and returned to the enjoyment of the general public thanks to a no-profit initiative.

Today, the island is an ecomuseum dedicated to the local territory and its communities: projects and management are driven by the dedication and knowledge of hundreds of enthusiasts and volunteers, in collaboration with institutions and dozens of local, national and international organizations. Every year, thousands of people from all over the world participate actively, in person and online.

At the center of the best-preserved area of the Venice Laguna, rich in biodiversity and farming and fishing activities, the Lazzaretto Nuovo is a field outpost for the local area’s scientific institutions, schools and other groups. The Path of the Barene displays the ecomuseum’s naturalistic side, serving as a frame and platform to collect and promote dialogue and the development of the various dedicated initiatives.

“Lagoon Micro-ecologies” is part of TBA21–Academy’s program, "The Current III", Mediterraneans: ‘Thus waves come in pairs’ (after Etel Adnan), led by Barbara Casavecchia.

The "Current III" is a transdisciplinary program of perception, listening, thought and learning that supports projects, collective education, and voices on the shores of the Mediterranean through art, culture, science, and activism.

*Anna Tsing, When The Things We Study Respond to Each Other, in: More-than-Human, ed. by Andrés Jaque, Marina Otero Verzier, Lucia Pietroiusti, and Lisa Mazza, co-published by Het Nieuwe Instituut, Office for Political Innovation, General Ecology Project at the Serpentine Galleries and Manifesta Foundation, 2020.