Tentacular Ship

WALKING (THE) TRAJECTORIES: VENICE AS A MODEL FOR THE FUTURE? is a series of free itinerant conversations, taking intimate groups of “talking walkers” through the Venetian lagoon. Organized by the Ocean Fellowship Program of TBA21–Academy, these nomadic tours are scheduled to take place throughout June and July 2020. They are inspired by the trajectories charted by Territorial Agency from their upcoming exhibition Oceans in Transformation (27 Aug–29 Nov 2020) at Ocean Space in Venice.

WALKING (THE) TRAJECTORIES: VENICE AS A MODEL FOR THE FUTURE? brings together a diverse array of local guests and experts, and operate as a physical, mobile extension of the interdisciplinary conversations held in digital space by the Ocean Fellows around a series of Tavolas (tables). All walking talks (1 hour 30 ca.) depart from the steps of Ocean Space, housed in the former church of San Lorenzo. The walking talks invite all participants to engage in free-flowing conversations along the waterways, concluding at unexpected points along the water’s edge, chosen by each invited guest, as they coincide with a critical point of observation.

What is the prolonged absence of cruise ships on the city’s horizon highlighting in the economic and social geography of Venice? How do cruise operators manipulate the interpretation of the city and redesign its maps in order to push their customers towards objectives set by a pre-packaged “Venice Adventure”? How, here and now, can we transform this model?

The second touring conversation in the “Walking (the) Trajectories: Venice as a model for the future?” series - organized by the Ocean Fellowship 2020 program (Barbara Casavecchia, mentor; Pietro Consolandi and Elisa Giuliano, fellows), in preparation for the Territorial Agency “Oceans in Transformation” exhibition (August 27th - November 29th, 2020, Ocean Space) - will be an opportunity to meet artist Eleonora Sovrani.

Eleonora will share her own experience as an attentive observer of these dynamics, beginning with her project “Tentacular Ship” (2010), a first-hand investigation (even taking her onboard) into how the cruise industry systematically attempts to influence the perception of Venice around the world, offering guests a consumer product that can be experienced in as short a time as possible. Over the years she has monitored the development of mass tourism, developing a poster campaign with We Are Here Venice, which is currently in operation, to raise awareness of the negative impacts of cruise ships to visitors and residents, and she has followed the various international meetings that deal with this topic, including the Cartagena Cruise Dialogue 2020.

Meeting point at Ocean Space, Church of San Lorenzo, Friday, July 10th, 6 pm.

The event is free with a reservation, send an e-mail to info@ocean-space.orgby Thursday, July 25th.

The event will last around 1 hour 30 minutes. In the event of bad weather, those who make a reservation will receive information about any eventual cancellation via e-mail.

Eleonora Sovrani is an artist and researcher who lives between Venice and Berlin. Since 2014 she has been a part of the musical group “The Mechanical Tales”, and in 2018 she curated the exhibition “The Most Dangerous Game” with Wolfgang Scheppe and Roberto Ohrt at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. Since 2016 she has collaborated with the non-profit organization We Are Here Venice.