Can the Piave Still Murmur?

On Sunday 6, an assembly will gather in Ocean Space for an in-depth discussion and a series of artistic elements centered on the case of the Grave di Ciano, an important area in the mid-course of the Piave river, protected by the Natura 2000 project but threatened by a potentially ecologically damaging climate adaptation project.

The event will unfold through a series of thematic interventions by local activists, scientists, and communities offering testimonies, presenting their case and the evidence of its problematic aspects. These interventions will be alternated with three moments of performance, sound art, and creative writing by the artists and activists participating in the Confluence and the Comitato.

“Can the Piave still Murmur?” which refers to an old folk song from World War I, is pat of the closing program of the second edition of the Confluence of European Water Bodies, with special participation from the Committee for the Grave of Cyan, the IDRA network (Initiative for the Rights of Water Networks) and the arts groups Arts4theCommons, Water Bodies and River Sisters. The event is supported by the International Tribunal for the Rights of Nature and was also conceived through the Deep Ecology and Rights of Nature Campus “Mountains Flow,” developed in collaboration with the Italian Buddhist Union (UBI) and NICHE - THE NEW INSTITUTE Center for Environmental Humanities at Ca' Foscari University.

• Welcome by Ocean Space, projection of Maria Conte, local artist and active member of the Comitato per le Grave di Ciano.

• 10 – 11am | The Case of the Grave di Ciano: coexisting with the River.

Intervention by Franco Nicoletti (President, Comitato per le Grave di Ciano) and Massimiliano Montini (Law Professor, University of Siena). Artistic intervention by Arts4theCommons & “Mountains Flow” Campus participants

• 11am – 12pm | The Piave and its human and non-human communities: which futures await them?

Interventions by Katia Zanatta (Environmental Biologist) and Rita Bellomo (Secretary, Comitato per le Grave di Ciano). Artistic intervention by River Sisters & “Mountains Flow” Campus participants

• 12 – 1pm | The influence of development projects on the river Piave on the Mediterranean bio-region.

Interventions by Andrea Marion (Hydraulic Engineer) and Francesco Comiti (Hydrologist). Artistic intervention by Corpi Idrici (Genova watersheds artist and activist group, Nuvola Ravera and Lucia Bergamaschi)

• Closing speech by Francesco Martone, representative of the Assembly of Judges of the International Tribunal for the Rights of Nature.

The program of the Venetian edition of the Confluence of European Water Bodies emerges from the many participating water bodies. It was co-developed with NICHE (Ca' Foscari University) and Italian Buddhist Union (UBI), in fundamental dialogue with local activist associations Comitato per le Grave di Ciano (River Piave) and Poveglia per Tutti (Venice Lagoon).

Confluence of European Water Bodies is founded by the Embassy of the North Sea, ILP Mar Menor and TBA21–Academy and supported by the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice: NICHE (THE NEW INSTITUTE Center for Environmental Humanities), GARN (Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature), the Italian Buddhist Union, Creative Industries Fund NL, Venice Climate Change Pavilion and ZIN Doc.