8. The story of a mussel from the lagoon to the sea

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.”*

The barrier island of Pellestrina, a long strip of sand and sediments which was reinforced in the 1700s by the series of “Murazzi” breakwaters, separates (along with Lido) the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea. Here, for generations its inhabitants have coexisted with both ecosystems, mediating between them, and adapting to change.

The Busetto family, aquaculture farmers for generations and the founders of Mitilla - the mussel of Pellestrina, lead us from the town to the Murazzi, where the lagoon meets the sea. Together they will accompany us on a journey to explore the history of their family and the Mitilla mussel, which are inextricably linked to the evolution of the Pellestrina and lagoon ecosystems.

9:45am at Ocean Space. 11:15am in Pellestrina (Sanctuary of the Madonna dell'Apparizione)

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.

Lorenzo Busetto grew up working in the family business, Fratelli Busetto, which has been raising mussels for three generations. He created the registered trademark Mitilla®️, presented at the 2019 Sagra del Pesce di Chioggia.

Raised in the traditional way in rows located in the open sea off the island of Pellestrina, in clean "type A" water, the mussels are thinned out to allow for greater oxygenation, and then harvested and selected by hand. Talking to us about new aquaculture methods and guiding us along the shores of Pellestrina is Genny Busetto, Lorenzo's sister, heir to the family tradition and active part of Mitilla.

“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.