Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker This is more of a luxury hotel post than a points hotel post, so if that doesn’t interest you, by all means skip it. However, what’s probably my single favorite boutique hotel group in the world is opening its first property outside of France Airelles Venice (Venezia) is expected to open in the fall of 2025 marking the newest property of the French luxury hotel group The hotel isn’t yet accepting reservations and will be located on Venice’s Giudecca Island just a five-minute boat ride from Piazza San Marco The property is housed within the former Bauer Palladio complex Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace The property has been designed by Christophe Tollemer the same architect and interior designer behind Airelles’ other properties so you can expect there will be a mix of French elegance with Venetian artistry Airelles Venice will feature three distinct dining experiences a huge wellness center with a gym and garden especially in a city where space comes at such a premium The pictures of the rooms so far look exactly like what you’d expect from Airelles and I imagine even on the day the hotel opens they won’t feel “new,” in a good way Airelles’ other properties are largely in places where there are no good points properties though — in terms of the “vibe” of Airelles I think you can tell based on the above pictures where you can see how Airelles is restoring the property in a way that really brings out the best of it There’s no denying that we’ve seen a huge increase in luxury hotel costs since the start of the pandemic so it’s hard to assess value in travel nowadays But I’d argue what’s so frustrating about luxury hotel rates is how many properties are charging a lot more while offering a lot less one thing is for sure — they invest massively in the guest experience you’re going to have an amazing time My first stay with the brand was at Airelles Courchevel which is my favorite ski resort in the world and perhaps my favorite hotel in the world It’s simply an incredible ski resort Airelles La Bastide de Gordes is a special resort in Provence I’ve also stayed at Airelles Saint-Tropez Chateau de la Messardiere And we haven’t even stayed at Airelles Château de Versailles, Le Grand Contrôle which offers unrivaled access to the Palace of Versailles My point is simply to say that if you appreciate French hospitality Airelles will be opening its first hotel outside of France in 2025 This looks like a beautiful property that will no doubt rank among the best in the city I’m excited to see the Airelles brand growing though I do kind of wish that expansion came in a market where there was less luxury competition and therefore where the Airelles experience would stand out even more What do you make of the upcoming Airelles Venice Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Does it share the same island with Belmond! Airelles are great in locations where you will spend time at the hotel and use all their amenities Venice is not a destination where I would spend time at the hotel other than showering and sleeping Stayed at the St Regis Venice last summer and it was more than perfect Inconvenient location unless the hotel has its own on-demand no-wait ferries to actual Venice Plus lots of people who stay there hire a boat to remain at their disposal it's a bit out of the way but it's also the only way to get that view of St I hold the (perhaps incorrect) perception that Venice is mostly for American and Asian visitors @ Jerry -- I'd say that Airelles' target audience isn't necessarily (or at least primarily) rich French travelers but rather those who appreciate aspects of French culture In my experience the Courchevel property is most popular with Russians and other Europeans while the Val-d'Isère and Gordes properties are most popular with those from other parts of Europe You raise a good point though about Venice being popular with Americans and Asians,.. You raise a good point though about Venice being popular with Americans and Asians and those definitely haven't historically been Airelles' primarily customer base but maybe the brand is trying to grow there they are the second largest tourists group after US Americans.. And far above Chinese (only 12) if you look at the city stats from 2023.. it's more a weekend city trip then a full vacation It also helps that basically everyone there speaks French so quite popular with the older demographics I was just telling someone about this brand Your feedback is important in helping us keep our community safe The comments on this page have not been provided approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered it's more a weekend city trip then a full vacation You have successfully joined our subscriber list Editorial Disclosure: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any entity mentioned herein. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. See more about our ethics policies here A new book of photographs by Marco Valmarana takes readers inside the Floating City’s secret gardens “Venice is a woman,” Diane von Furstenberg has written “The gardens of Venice are like precious emeralds set in the mounting of an elaborate golden jewel small green spots scattered throughout a complex urban fabric These green oases, which float above the city’s swampy lagoon, are everywhere in Venice Gardens hug the sprawling Fondazione Giorgio Cini They highlight the outdoor sculptures at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and concealed behind tall fences and brick walls Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights Jordi Lippe-McGraw is a travel writer and founder of PAK Rêve bags.Follow AuthorNov 18 10:26am ESTShareSaveComment@font-face{font-family: "Schnyder"; src: url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/schnyders/schnyders-bold-webfont.woff2") format("woff2") 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.bg-accent{background-color: #333333;} #article-stream-0 .subhead-embed.font-accent #article-stream-0 .subhead-embed .font-accent{font-family: Euclid,"Noto Sans","Droid Sans","Helvetica Neue",Corbel,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;} #article-stream-0 .subhead-embed.font-size #article-stream-0 .subhead-embed .font-size{font-size: 26px;} #article-stream-0 .subhead3-embed.color-body #article-stream-0 .subhead3-embed .color-body{color: #333333;} #article-stream-0 .subhead3-embed.color-body-border{border-top-color: rgba(51,51,51 #article-stream-0 .subhead3-embed .color-body-border{border-top-color: rgba(51,51,51 0.8);} .bg-body{background-color: #333333;} #article-stream-0 .subhead3-embed.font-accent #article-stream-0 .subhead3-embed .font-accent{font-family: Euclid,"Noto Sans","Droid Sans","Helvetica Neue",Corbel,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;}The stunning hotel will make a splash in Venice the French luxury hotel brand synonymous with opulence is finally making its grand leap beyond France's borders with the upcoming debut of Airelles Venezia this new property will mark a significant milestone for the brand landing on none other than Venice's serene Giudecca Island Giudecca has long been a quiet escape from the frenzy of Venice's tourist-heavy San Marco Airelles clearly knows how to pick a spot that's equal parts iconic and tucked away from the masses The new property will breathe life into the historic buildings of the former Bauer Palladio complex We're talking three meticulously restored buildings a heritage church designed by Andrea Palladio and nearly one hectare of gardens—an absolute rarity in Venice Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace Airelles Venezia is poised to deliver a mix of privacy this isn't just about adding another pin on the map It's a strategic leap into Italy's high-end travel market a territory ripe for a brand that's mastered French refinement "The opening of Airelles Venezia is a landmark moment for us," says CEO Anne-Laure Ollagnon She's not exaggerating—this move expands their footprint and signals the brand's ambition to rival the most iconic hotels in Europe "We're honored to be the custodians of such a storied property," Ollagnon adds noting that the project will blend Airelles' signature style with a deep respect for Venice's rich history the acclaimed architect and interior designer behind the brand's other visually stunning properties Expect a blend of French elegance and Venetian artistry: Murano glass and even terrazzo floors will set the scene The design will nod to Venetian grandeur while keeping that unmistakable Airelles touch—think rich mahogany tones Airelles Venezia is pulling out all the stops when it comes to amenities The property will feature 45 rooms and suites each painstakingly designed to combine historic charm with modern comfort Guests can choose between rooms in the main Palladio building or opt for the exclusive standalone villa with panoramic views of Piazza San Marco If you're the kind who prefers privacy there's even a three-bedroom villa tucked away in the Conventino area The property will feature all the classic details Dining is another area where Airelles plans to shine although they're keeping the names of their star chefs under wraps for now What we do know: the property will offer three distinct dining experiences and a main bar with a terrace perfect for sundowner cocktails expect a fusion of French techniques and Italian ingredients that will likely draw foodies from across the globe Airelles Venezia will feature a sprawling spa and wellness center which means families can truly relax knowing their little ones are entertained and it's clear Airelles Venezia is positioning itself as a top-tier retreat for travelers who want it all One of the most unique elements of Airelles Venezia is its historic church Built in the late 16th century and designed by Palladio the church will be restored to its former glory and available for intimate weddings and private events That's right—guests can exchange vows in a venue steeped in centuries of Venetian history making it one of the most exclusive wedding venues in the city Some of the few images released of the interiors Airelles is making a point to connect with the local community through restoration projects including contributing to the upkeep of the Doge's Palace and Giardini del Redentore It's not just about bringing French luxury to Venice but also about giving back to the city that's hosting them Airelles' entry into Venice is more than just another luxury hotel opening; it's a statement of intent which already boasts properties like Le Grand Contrôle at the Palace of Versailles and La Bastide in Gordes is clearly setting its sights on becoming a serious player in the Italian luxury market With Venice seeing a steady influx of high-net-worth travelers By combining their signature French flair with Venetian history Airelles aims to stand out in a city already brimming with opulent hotels Contact us Press Office Subscribe to the Newsletter and get the latest info on our programmes and initiatives Subscribe ItalyChevron VeniceChevron From its prime position on the eastern tip of the Giudecca island Belmond Cipriani exudes an air of dolce vita–style glamour Whether you pull up directly at the private dock or hop on the hotel launch at Piazza San Marco for the journey across the lagoon and air of sophistication combine into a pampered world all its own Created by Giuseppe Cipriani—of Harry’s Bar fame—in 1958 the Cipriani has remained the essence of Venetian luxe through its various rebrandings it has added the Michelin-starred Oro restaurant to its gamut of glamourous offerings Drinking and dining—what are we looking at? There’s the Michelin-starred Oro restaurant, with a glimmering Adam Tihany–designed interior, the less formal Cip’s Club on a deck by the water, and the Giudecca 10 trattoria, with tables arranged along a waterside terrace. And that’s just for starters. You can snack by the pool at Porticciolo, sip Cipriani’s famous Bellini cocktail at the Gabbiano bar, and take cooking lessons with Michelin-starred chef Davide Bisetto. And the service? Staff is approachable, welcoming, and used to household-name guests with privacy issues. You can bank on hugely professional, discreet service. What type of travelers will you find here? Come around film festival time (late August and early September) and you’ll rub shoulders with A-list stars, directors, and producers. But the vibe is monied and self-assured year-round, with splashes of international color, from entertainers to royalty. What about the neighborhood? Does the hotel fit in, make itself part of the scene? Venice remains a shimmering vision across the water—conceptually very close, but physically very far. The only obvious way of exiting is by boat; for many guests, that’s the Cipriani’s unique value proposition. Any other hotel features worth noting? The list of facilities and services is staggering: central Venice’s only pool—and an Olympic-sized one, at that—a sumptuous spa, children’s activities, cooking classes, tailored tours and boat trips, gorgeous gardens, art classes, tennis courts, and more. Bottom line: Worth it? Why? If 360-degree indulgence is what you’re after, the Cipriani is your ideal Venice perch. All listings featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you book something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. up-to-the-minute voice in all things travel Condé Nast Traveler is the global citizen’s bible and muse We understand that time is the greatest luxury which is why Condé Nast Traveler mines its network of experts and influencers so that you never waste a meal or a hotel stay wherever you are in the world Airelles has unveiled plans to open its first property outside of France the property will mark the collection’s ninth address It will comprise 45 rooms and suites three dining destinations and two bars as well as a 1700m² spa and gym with a dedicated wellness garden three swimming pools and a dedicated space for private functions the property was once the site of the Bauer Palladio and comprises three historically significant buildings as well as a church and extensive gardens of almost one hectare The hotel’s central building and entrance is the Palladio which surrounds Santa Maria della Presentazione a historic church adorned with two bell towers the Palladio was designed by architect Andrea Palladio and will now enter a new era as part of Airelles Venezia The Santa Maria della Presentazione church is being restored to its former glory and will be available to guests of the hotel for weddings and small ceremonies Adjacent to the Palladio is a standalone villa which previously served as a residence to a succession of noble Italian families before becoming an elite pensione catering to an eclectic clientele of painters The villa will feature a number of Airelles Venezia’s accommodations and a four-bedroom Presidential Suite with full view of Piazza San Marco as well as one of the hotel’s upscale dining experiences and bar To the rear of the property lies the Conventino where guests will discover further rooms and suites and an intimate three-bedroom villa with a private garden and swimming pool Architect and interior designer Christophe Tollemer who has been responsible for the design aesthetic across all Airelles properties French linens and fabrics will seamlessly blend with classical Italian stylings incorporating decadent terrazzo and marble floors delicate Murano glass pieces and Rubelli wallcoverings Inspired by the romantic Venetian backdrop the colour palette will feature warm ambers handpicked antique furniture and historic artefacts will be complemented by 21st-century luxuries “We are privileged to introduce our first property outside of France with the upcoming opening of Airelles Venezia,” says Anne-Laure Ollagnon “The opening of this exceptional property is a landmark moment for our brand and a magnificent addition to both our portfolio and to luxury hospitality in Venice It is a great honour for Airelles to be the next custodians of this remarkable estate and we look forward to curating some of the most incredible experiences for our discerning guests.” Registered in England and Wales with Company Number 06637145 We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings we will not be able to save your preferences This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again More information about our Cookie Policy Giudecca is where wheel-heeled Italian families head for their culture fix Feast in the island’s family-run trattorias snooze between retro boltholes and drink with the masters of mixology Giudecca, Venice Get your weekly dose of armchair travelling The community life centered around the Giudecca (as the Jewish quarter was known) and its four synagogues two of which survived the repeated violence of history has recently been restored to its original purpose a Star of David and a bell now coexist on the building’s exterior But few who walk these streets are aware of this,” explained architect Renzo Funaro vice-president of the Foundation for Jewish Cultural Heritage in Italy (FBCEI) which were discussed at the “Jewish Trani Project” meeting on 7 February architect Giorgio Gramegna (project designer of the Jewish section in the diocesan museum) and local authorities.“The goal is to increase visibility for the Giudecca There is much to be shared and we plan to spread this information digitally as well,” explained Funaro who is part of a working group created in 2023 to promote the area’s cultural touristic and architectural value.Among the initiatives presented at the meeting selected by an expert commission and presented to local schools Students will be involved in spreading awareness of Jewish Trani and Hebrew alphabet will be offered in schools High schools will also be involved in the use of the logo and its possible graphic sculptural and multimedia applications,” Funaro said Seleziona il modo in cui vuoi essere contattato da Unione delle Comunità Ebraiche Italiane: Usiamo Mailchimp come piattaforma per la realizzazione e l'invio dei nostri notiziari. Con l'iscrizione le tue informazioni saranno trasferite a Mailchimp per l'elaborazione. Scopri di più sulla privacy di Mailchimp ShareWhy Giudecca is the place to goHome to hotel that’s part of the history of Venetian hospitality the island has also become a destination for international curators and collectors thanks to its thriving contemporary art scene You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Touted as the city’s first permanent art quarter the Giudecca Art District will encompass 11 galleries alongside national pavilions during the 58th Venice Biennale Venice Biennale: Brechtian beach operas, psychedelic grottos, and more Other major exhibitions include the Voltaire-inspired ‘Take Care of Your Garden’ with works by eight international artists to be staged in a vast 1,900 sq m garden Venice Biennale 2019 runs from 11 May – 24 November. For more information, visit the Giudecca Art District website escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox Pope Francis to attend installation that includes short film featuring Zoë Saldaña and Giudecca inmates Pope Francis is due to attend on 28 April – the first pontifical visit to the Biennale since it was founded in 1895 In the women’s prison he will see a work by Maurizio Cattelan who notoriously created a hyper-real sculpture in 1999 depicting Pope John Paul II struck down by a meteorite For this exhibition, however, the Italian-born artist is contributing a work to be displayed on the facade of the prison chapel. Referencing Andrea Mantegna’s painting Lamentation Over the Dead Christ it is a large-scale photograph of his own dirty Leading one of the first tours around the prison, which can be booked by members of the public dressed in striking uniforms of navy and white that they had designed and made in the prison’s workshops They introduced themselves only by their first names – Silvia Outer walls are lined with glazed stone slabs featuring excerpts of poems written by prisoners Photograph: David Levene/The GuardianAfter an introduction to the prison a middle-aged woman with neat jewellery and a confident manner took the group through to the first venue for art: the staff bar On the walls are displayed radical poster works by Corita Kent with graphic messages protesting against war and violence who died in 1986 and is the only deceased artist featured in the show Silvia took the lead as guests entered a long narrow walkway between the prison buildings and its outer walls The sides are lined with glazed lava stone slabs painted by the artist Simone Fattal with excerpts of poems written by the prisoners “Our feelings are written here; a piece of us is written on these works of art,” said Emanuela Depicting a large eye with a stroke through it “what people don’t look at and what they don’t want to see” An artwork by Claire Fontaine conveying ‘the blindness of society’ installed below a lookout tower at the prison Photograph: David Levene/The GuardianThe tour continued past a large lush vegetable garden thick with fruit trees and rows of artichoke plants “we can dream of other things; we can almost forget we are in prison” A few inmates clustered beside a medieval well looked on as Emanuela explained a second Claire Fontaine work a large neon text piece fixed to one of the walls reading: “Siamo con voi nella notte” – “We are with you in the night” – “which speaks to us as a message of solidarity from the people outside,” she said Zoë Saldaña and Marco Perego Photograph: David Levene/The GuardianThe tour then trooped through the visitors’ room to a space in which a short film by the artist Marco Perego and his wife who starred in James Cameron’s Avatar films acted alongside inmates in a narrative about a prisoner on the day of her release she saidthe work was meant “not so much like a documentary that has to be truthful – instead we encouraged [the inmates] to make a piece of art with us” The pavilion was commissioned by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, who runs the Vatican’s dicastery for culture and education. The co-curators Bruno Racine and Chiara Parisi took on the Vatican pavilion “on the basis of perfect trust with the cardinal a former director of the National Library of France “He understands the psychology of an artist and the desire for autonomy and not to be subject to the influence of ideas from outside.” one of the artists involved in the project the French hip-hop choreographer Bintou Dembélé With a new shade available for its interiors Ferrari continues to paint the automotive world red The sight of a powerful red car is virtually synonymous with the history and legend of Ferrari and its incredibly fast and luxurious models that wear the color with honor With the color red being such an integral part of the Ferrari brand for so long it seems impossible for the brand to come up with new and different shades of it to feature in their cars is now the ninth shade available for Ferrari’s interior leathers and it’s available as part of the Special Equipment personalization program MUST READ: Ferrari Prototype Collection Being Offered by Mecum Auctions where it displays its true Ferrari personality as the hallmark of speed Celebrating 30 years of the F50 Almost 30 years ago,.. 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Pope Francis arrived in Venice via helicopter from the Vatican early on Sunday making the first stop of his pastoral visit to a women's penitentiary institution gave a brief address and then listened attentively to groups of them as they came forward to thank him and offer gifts they made for the occasion Pope Francis explained how he wished to be with them on this first event of his visit to Venice to assure them that they hold a "special place" in his heart And he suggested that this moment be experienced less as an "official visit" and more as a special encounter together where "thanks be to God closeness and fraternal affection" allowing for precious mutual enrichment. He added that God knows each one of us and that here today we each have something unique to give and receive that can benefit us all.  The Pope said it is the Lord who brings us together and while the paths from which we have come vary "some are very painful," also due to mistakes that have led to wounds and scars each carries within He acknowledged the "harsh reality" of prison also due to overcrowding and incidents of violence that add to the difficult reality.  he noted that prison can also offer a time for moral and physical rebirth where the dignity of women and men is not left in isolation but "promoted through mutual respect and the nurturing of talents and abilities" each person has He said sometimes these talents can be "dormant" or "isolated" by life's challenges but they "can re-emerge for the good of all" with due attention and perseverance He added that "no one can take away a person's dignity prison time can allow for new beginnings through the "rediscovery of the undiscovered beauty in us and in others," the Pope said "as symbolized by the artistic event you are hosting and the project to which you actively contribute."  Prison can become the worksite for rebuilding lives The Pope underscored how important it is for prison systems to offer possibilities "for human cultural and professional growth" that favour "healthy reintegration" in society offering "new possibilities" that will benefit everyone We have all made mistakes that need to be forgiven and wounds to heal and when that happens the forgiven can themselves bring forgiveness to others the Pope encouraged everyone to renew their trust in the future and "always look to the horizon and we hold the rope in our hands and go forward with the rope anchored in the future.” the Pope gave the inmates an icon of the Blessed Mother and Child explaining how you can see the tenderness Mary has with all of us as "she is the Mother of tenderness." Groups of inmates then came forward to greet the Pope offering words of gratitude for his visit and expressing hopes for a better future for them and our world They gave the Pope fruits of their efforts working in the prison-run cooperatives where they produce a variety of goods ranging from soaps Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here Artlyst Venice Biennale 2024 – From Inside A Women’s Prison – Pavilion Of The Holy See – James Payne The most coveted ticket at this year’s Venice Biennale was entry to the Giudecca women’s prison on an island in the lagoon which dates back to the 13th century and was once a reformatory for prostitutes and unwed mothers Because it is still a high-security women’s prison with limited accessibility and spaces which few art goers have ever had the chance to visit The exhibition in the prison is called With My Eyes and is the Vatican’s exhibition for the Holy See Pavilion dedicated to the theme of human rights and people living on the margins of society The curators have invited eight artists to participate: Maurizio Cattelan there are a lot of rules and a lot of security You cannot take in a phone (leave with the prison guards) but you can take in a camera as long as you notify them beforehand with the make and type of camera The tour is led by two prisoners on a rotation basis and several guards follow the tour (25 people maximum) with huge sets of keys and a new door is opened only once all the previous ones are locked the artist known for his hyper-realistic and often satirical sculptures who came to the world’s attention with a provocative life-sized effigy of Pope John Paul II lying on his side That work was created in 1999 and was called The Ninth Hour (La Nona Ora) it seems the Vatican has forgiven him (mind you His mural is painted on the façade of the prison chapel (we will visit it on the tour) It is a huge depiction of his own dirty feet based on the feet of Christ and referencing Andrea Mantegna’s painting Lamentation Over the Dead Christ Our tour inside the prison is led by two middle-aged prisoners of whom you are not allowed to ask personal questions or take photos of They are extremely informative and make the tour so much more meaningful which we are informed is only ever walked by female prisoners when arriving or leaving the institution The alley is lined with enamelled lava plaques a collaboration by prisoners (using their poems and letters) and the Syrian-Lebanese artist Simone Fattal who has adapted them into text paintings and storytelling Many are in languages other than Italian (One in English) reflecting that prisons don’t have borders Installation view photo by Marco Cremascoli is a work by the Italian-British artist duo Claire Fontaine of a neon eye with a line through it the kind of symbol you see on social media warning you that the content is “hidden” Our first stop is in the prison guard’s cafeteria the walls are covered in works by Corita Kent Kent was a nun known as Sister Mary Corita Kent or the pop art nun She had an epiphany in 1962 when she went to see an Andy Warhol show in L.A. but she was altogether more political than Warhol and created slogans attacking poverty More or less forgotten after her death in 1986 The words “Siamo con voi nella notte” (“We are with you at night”) were first graffitied in front of the federal jail in Florence in the 1970s by the Italian prison reform movement These words have been replicated in neon and are placed on the wall of the main prison yard and our guide/inmate points out her own cell and tells us the women find the message and slight neon glow comforting at night Then we are led through a small children’s playground where women can play with their visiting children and grandchildren under the watch of guards The bright playthings are a poignant reminder that women are not just separated from society cramped cinema has been set up in the inmates meeting room and we are invited to sit down a 15-minute film by Italian director Marco Perego starring his wife who plays an inmate in her final hours before release and the other 20 actresses are inmates from the prison It begins with beautiful shots of Venice waking up Saldaña’s character walks through areas of the prison-like the laundry room and then gets her civilian clothes from the guard (leaving behind a crucifix she had brought in with her) and walks (through the same alleyway we did) into a courtyard the inmates watch her leave and bang their tin mugs on a ledge in a time-honoured tradition to celebrate a prisoner’s release It is a moment that the inmates (including the two leading us around) must dream about daily and it is hard not to find it anything other than profoundly moving we enter a picture gallery by Claire Tabouret who has created portraits from photos of inmates as children as well as their children and grandchildren Some of the children pictured play or played on the playground we just saw on Wednesdays and Saturdays between 10am and 2pm One of our guides points out a painting that was created from her own treasured photo collection of herself as a one-year-old child learning to walk with her mother The last stop is the Baroque-era chapel (Catallan’s mural is on the street/canal facing side) for “Sinfonia” an installation by Brazilian artist Sonia Gomes consisting of suspended sculptures hung among the balconies and confessional booths in a chapel that once preached to fallen women and where many confessed their sins Gomes has said that she wanted to take “the original function of the place the Baroque convent for ‘reconverted’ women with the current life of the prison house and the stories of women from all over the world.” it had just been announced that the Pope was going to visit the Biennale for the first time and would also be visiting the women’s prison The chapel seemed an appropriate place to ask them what they thought of this The pavilion has faced some criticism over exploitation and for not addressing the broader concerns over women’s rights as a way to break up the monotony of institutional life and all of them volunteered to participate in the exhibition in some way The women who guided us around told us that they found working on the project not just a distraction but therapeutic and we all want to connect and to be visible Why should this be different for prisoners This exhibition is designed to make us confront our preconceived ideas about prison and the life of its inmates and to reflect on power structures and institutions Holy See Pavilion” is on view through November 24 at the Guidecca Women’s Detention Home in Venice To book (free) tickets, See Here Read More young people and thousands of faithful from this northern Italian region bordering the Adriatic Sea Pope Francis greets people as he leaves St Mark’s Square in Venice in a golf cart April 28 came to a standstill; many were marooned in small neighborhoods as security shut down entire streets and severely limited regular waterway traffic The pope's early morning touchdown by helicopter from Rome April 28 brought him first to a women's prison then by wooden motorboat to the Basilica of St invoking her protection and intercession to end a devastating plague that killed nearly one-third of the population in the 1630s.  thank him and embrace the beauty that you are; fall in love with your life."  color the world with your creativity and paint the streets of life with the Gospel," he said Young people must resist inertia and discouragement "because we are made for Heaven." Tell God "Here I am!" and recognize and welcome the gift of being made "precious and irreplaceable." and everyone carries a priceless treasure inside that is meant to be shared with others Recognizing this is the first step we should take in the morning when we wake up: get out of bed and accept yourself as a gift."  people are beautiful and fragile at the same time Take care of these fragilities and recognize that God always extends a hand even when one's friends are stuck at home behind screens and video games but take advice from Venetian wisdom that says one can only go far by consistently and steadily rowing Accompanied by a delegation of young people Pope Francis then went by electric golf cart to St Mark's Square by crossing a "bridge of boats," a floating pontoon bridge that is a traditional Venetian way of temporarily connecting opposite shores staying at a waterfront hotel peered out their large balcony windows to see the unusual sight.  More than 10,000 people packed the huge square for Mass and to pray the "Regina Coeli." In his homily the pope said Jesus' metaphor of being the grapevine while believers are the branches "expresses God's loving care for us; it also warns us that if we sever this connection with the Lord we cannot produce fruits of good life and risk becoming dry branches "This is what matters: to remain in the Lord to dwell in him," which does not mean standing still or being passive because to remain in the Lord means to grow in relationship with him." "As we gaze upon this city of Venice today we are also concerned about the many issues that threaten it: climate change which impacts the waters of the lagoon and the land," he said.  He highlighted the problems facing the city's architecture noting "the difficulty of creating an environment that is fit for human beings through adequate tourism management." Christians must remain united to Christ so "we can bring the fruits of the Gospel into the reality we inhabit: fruits of justice and peace fruits of solidarity and mutual care; carefully-made choices to preserve our environmental and human heritage," he said Mark’s Square in Venice to attend Mass with Pope Francis April 28 Pope Francis accepts the offertory gifts as he celebrates Mass in St Pope Francis delivers his homily as he presides over Mass in St Pope Francis greets people from a golf cart as he rides around St Mark's Square before his Mass in Venice April 28 Pope Francis prays in front of the relics of St Pope Francis arrives by boat from Giudecca Island to the Basilica of St About 1,500 young people gather with Pope Francis in front of the Basilica of St special guests and artists at the chapel of the Giudecca women's prison in Venice April 28 Pope Francis gives his blessing to a female detainee inside the courtyard of the Giudecca women's prison in Venice April 28 Pope Francis talks to female detainees inside the courtyard of the Giudecca women's prison in Venice April 28 Highlights from Pope Francis' visit to Venice April 28 Catholic News Service has been providing complete in-depth coverage of the popes and the Vatican for more than 70 years faithful and informed connection to the Holy See Cardinal Gugerotti urged electors to draw on Eastern Christian humility and let the Spirit A Rome tailor is hoping the new pope will appear on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica wearing a cassock he sewed himself Cardinal Fernández said contempt for the poor can be masked in refined language and warns against false meritocracy that distorts.. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB’s) mission is to encounter the mercy of Christ and to accompany His people with joy ©2025 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Made possible by funding from  a new initiative comprising project spaces exhibitions and a foundation for young Polish art launched yesterday during the Venice Biennale with a lively evening party gardens and a couple of smart hotels and indeed was already the site of a number of artist studios Now a couple of entrepreneurs—the curators Valentina Gioia Levy and Pier Paolo Scelsi—have created GAD that groups eleven projects eight of which are part of the opening programme Take Care of your Garden inspired by Voltaire’s famous and rather resigned maxim some of which will last just a month and others into September range from a video installation by Aleksandra Karpowicz and a solo show by the Paris-based Norwegian digital artist Pia Myrvold (until 25 September) to a group show featuring Polish and Taiwanese artists (until 30 May) organised by the Mediations Biennale Foundation in Poznan Some projects are housed in disused workshops beside the boat yards and two are in the now-deconsecrated 16th-century church Santi Cosma e Damiano not part of the programme but within the GAD network which include Force Field (until 15 September) a show of emerging Polish artists organised by the Starak Family Foundation Jerzy Starak is one of Poland’s richest men and major collector of Polish art the curator Levy said: “We have no sponsors so each project supports itself.” As for the continuation of the programme after the summer when most of the opening exhibitions will close she said: “The idea is to create a permanent programme and we will find the funds for each show,” and indeed some performances and exhibitions are already slated into December • For all our coverage of the 58th edition of the Venice Biennale, click here news6 February 2019Veteran Romanian artists to represent their country at Venice BiennaleThree artists who endured communist era will show new versions of installations Share full article6565I wasn’t planning to be on vacation in a pandemic It changed the way I’ll think about risk forever I wasn’t planning to be on vacation in a pandemic To hear more audio stories from publishers, like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android with the World Health Organization reporting three cases of Covid-19 in Italy and 15 in the United States one of the many water buses where Venetians and tourists jam and jostle It was the second week of Venice’s Carnivale and some people’s faces were covered by spooky masks My immediate neighbors wore gigantic hoop skirts that rubbed against my lower legs like playful dogs Our group of four adults and five offspring disembarked at San Marcuola to visit the former site of the Jewish ghetto The teens and tweens overwhelmingly did not even though three are Jewish and Venice’s ghetto is often considered the world’s first Doge Leonardo Loredan relocated the Venetian Jewish population to the site of an old ironworks (geto in Venetian dialect) where they were contained behind a stone wall I might have talked briefly about acts committed by states and city-states and basically just people driven by the fear of religious and cultural contamination by outsiders Instead we found the arch where the gates once hung and where we could see the indentations left by the old hinges still reporting three cases in Italy of Covid-19 the disease caused by the novel coronavirus beyond which ships with their entire crew used to anchor for 40 days (quaranta giorni) during illness outbreaks a practice dating back to the 14th century’s Black Death was especially vulnerable to disease spread from distant lands via the comings and goings of ships (something that given the seasonal megacruise invasions on the city our temperatures were taken before we were allowed into the non-security-restricted area of Marco Polo Airport (which had become in addition to “ghetto,” the medieval Venetians are credited for introducing a second “containment” word to our vocabulary: “quarantine.” with Italy reporting its first two deaths from Covid-19 we got on a plane to fly back to the United States no one checked the temperatures of the passengers arriving from Italy’s outbreak hot spot before we boarded our flight back to the United States with the cancellation of Carnivale and the W.H.O we realized that we had been more at risk on vacation than we had thought there were a handful of Covid-19 cases in Europe when we left by which I mean I was not worried about the virus’s hurting us despite statistics that labeled us “low risk,” was odd I’m either a ceaseless catastrophizer or a gifted psychic of the unlikely It’s rare that I’ll have water or Band-Aids in my bag but if you need a rigging knife or a piece of rope My favorite it’s-late-and-I’m-alone-in-a-hotel TV show is “SOS: How to Survive,” hosted by the “survival expert” Creek Stewart fond of bandanna ascots and factory-torn pants finds real people who nearly died in the wild but didn’t after his snowmobile became wedged in the ice a Greco-Roman wrestling gold medalist might have better survived the negative-20-degree night if only he’d packed duct tape and a tampon I trust my husband to cover the obvious dangers The danger — a virus that threatened to become a pandemic — fell into the obvious category I distributed little bottles of hand sanitizer that nobody used and everybody lost my daughter’s friend wore a blue paper mask that became covered in chocolate and provided few barriers to anything including the many jokes we made at her expense my husband and I established our own ethical containment “border.” Even though there were no cases of Covid-19 in Venice (the outbreak was in Milan and throughout Lombardy) and we were assumed to be unlikely carriers we said to ourselves: If anyone comes down with a cough or a fever abundantly cautious) step required a shift in our thinking not unlike the shift I only semi-experienced in the Venice airport when we had to go through security to leave security Staying home is typically what a person does to avoid danger This is the deep cognitive groove “home” has carved into our brains in part because our daughter would soon be in college and we wanted to start investing in family vacations before she wouldn’t be going on them with us I chose Acapulco because the hotel was cheap presumably because of its location in a city my friend erroneously referred to as “the murder capital of the world” (an international list of cities “not at war” ranks Acapulco’s murder rate second) State Department’s Level 4 (“Do Not Travel”) advisory for Guerrero state (A less diplomatic — in all senses of the word — friend asked Damascus?”) And yet I talked to people who lived in or frequently visited that part of Mexico I learned from one that the highway between Mexico City and Acapulco should be avoided and that instead of renting a car or taking a bus A friend who owns a house in Acapulco told me: “Don’t go wandering around the back streets All normal precautions for any big city.” I concluded: American tourists who practiced basic common sense were not exceptionally or even especially endangered Far more endangered were the residents of Acapulco and rich Mexican nationals on vacation But the consideration process — should we or should we not go Our family wasn’t at risk of importing direct harm and the anxiety experienced by our loved ones aside He has a fellowship this year that comes with a workspace A new policy had just been instituted: Travelers to Italy could not return to the office for 14 days My husband was four days shy of meeting this mark I unhelpfully pointed out that he had been home for a week and a half he’d been to the office many times and if he’d been infected with the coronavirus (I very much doubted he was) he had regularly contaminated the shared kitchen the communal table and probably more than one of his officemates wasn’t told by the New York public school where she teaches to stay home Neither my daughter nor any of the over 6,000 children she goes to high school with were asked where they’d been over the break tracked the travel itineraries of people currently affiliated with the university and issued multi-daily updates and guidance Yet the sum result of my family members’ and friends’ memberships with these many groups each of which responded with differing degrees of vigilance or indifference also the author of a book about the first summiting of Mount Everest It’s no mystery why I’m obsessed with survival-in-the-wild accounts in books and on TV: These stories are about a single person against the world who calms herself by strategizing how to avoid unlikely tragic outcomes (a coping strategy primarily available to those whose daily life is defined by safety) I had established danger as the thing existing outside the gates of my life head-warping perspective shift (especially during a pandemic) to accept the inverse: You are the danger the place I guess I’d stay in order to avoid all the world’s danger for reasons I guess I’ve long accepted as logical ones though what it might symbolize has nothing to do with logic Two other gates — one set facing Broadway and Barnard College the other facing 114th Street — are only occasionally locked on either end of what is known as College Walk are “access restricted” only during graduation Almost every time the campus security guards line up to calmly funnel the students wearing blue gowns inside the gates before they close I’m reminded of the ’60s protest footage I’ve watched when city police officers padlocked the same gates with a giant chain the students were protesting while outside other students were trying to break through the gates whether celebrators are being kept out or in The land on which the university is built has a history of institutions that unofficially protect the people outside from the inside The Bloomingdale Insane Asylum occupied the campus grounds from 1821 to 1889 isolated the patients from the city’s presumably healthier population as did the topography (the neighborhood was and is on top of a high The stigma of mental illness discouraged any surrounding development until after the Bloomingdale closed a professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation and author of a history of Morningside Heights explains how the institution and its patients were seen as “a blight on the neighborhood.” other large institutions — Columbia University Luke’s Hospital — started to build on the plateau during the early 1890s and soon after it blocks and blocks of residential apartment buildings (my 12-story apartment building was built in 1912; the one across the street in 1910) by time and need and opportunity and forgetting Only a single building from the asylum remains — it’s in the middle of the Columbia campus — and not even as a reminder Few of the people walking past it have any idea what it is resulting in three very young teenagers’ being charged in connection with her death This multipronged tragedy provoked many conversations outside and inside about outside and inside and how these lingering distinctions perpetuated harm the gates — as property lines or symbols — became superfluous nobody appeared to be inside or outside them No tourists taking photos of the libraries As Covid-19 extended its influence beyond whatever borders or containment measures the questions of where (and on which side of which boundary) a person was safer became harder and harder to answer as were whether a person was the victim of danger or danger’s unwitting perpetrator and what counts as “security,” and who is going through it It would seem that I’m building to the following admission: And then we all tested positive for the virus Though no one in my family has ever exhibited any symptoms of Covid-19 (a month later we’ll never be able to know with 100 percent certainty that we didn’t have it which we assumed they brought with them from the United States) the one who was in northern Italy at the same time (we ran into him in the airport) and who came down with a bad cough upon his return and was told by his New York doctor It’s nearly impossible for me to perfectly recount or recall how our understanding of the coronavirus both its behavior and our relationship to its spread What was deemed abundantly cautious on Wednesday morning became common sense by Wednesday night is when I learned that Rhode Island’s first two cases were a man and a teenage girl who visited Italy the same week we did Ditto Massachusetts’s second presumptive case More and more small outbreaks in the United States and elsewhere could be traced to people who were in northern Italy I counted the few remaining hours until we were technically in the clear Should we have kept our son home this whole time but that the school didn’t have a policy about travelers to Italy that it had only just occurred to her that maybe — maybe For such a calamity obsessive — for a person with a rope and a knife in her bag a person who lives nearly exclusively in the future running worst-case scenarios — Day 12 was a moment of reckoning I’m still trying to understand how I failed to activate the arguably most excellent part of my mind — its department of disaster preparedness — when it truly Instead the only messages issued from that department were we’re not sick (Some deeper and vaguely threatening communiqué sent by the director of the department of disaster preparedness the one hired and given a lifelong appointment by generations of my stoic ancestors subconsciously overrode all other messages with this one: WE was the crisis moment the department had been trained to competently seize over the past 50 years no matter the official government threat level that my daughter never switch trains at Times Square during rush hour The one that saw or foresaw danger everywhere Which makes the following seem even more illogical With another school break on the heels of the last — we were meant as we had not needed to just a few weeks earlier a list of “risk considerations.” Our teenage daughter would be staying home alone Now we wondered if one of us should remain with her because who knew whether the government would suddenly restrict domestic travel waiting to be tested with test kits that nobody had (A person I consulted had to remind me about a variable I’d forgotten to consider: What if your daughter gets sick while she’s by herself?) Regardless focused solely on the danger the world posed to us The flight and hotel charges still sat collecting interest on a credit card Despite the lessons supposedly learned after Italy it wasn’t until March 11 that we accepted — we could not go and not because we were in danger of getting stuck We could not go because we risked being the unwitting mules of harm the handful of people worked at a safe distance from one another The feeling we speechlessly shared was not fear or concern but respect and good will as well as the perversely energized flush of end-times solidarity the few scattered humans didn’t wave or speak or in any way acknowledge one another but for once our stress was the same stress I felt quite strongly that the university needed the idea of future tourists taking photos of the places where the hinges once hung because I’d come down with a fever or developed a cough I wouldn’t be avoiding danger by staying in my home Part of the reason we went to Venice was that we’d never been before The water that had so long protected the city from outside contamination so named (though this remains conjecture) because the first Jewish settlers in Venice lived on the opposite island we could see the darkened lines of the latest acqua alta event which reached a third of the way up many of the front doors and surpassed the height of the windowsills we didn’t know just how quickly Venice would become unvisitable We made jokes about how travel magazines needed to recalibrate their “the best time to visit” predictions in order to foresee brief Venn-diagram windows of overlapping disasters ones that would render the streets of overtouristed cities like Venice less swollen and stampeded by people like us The first video is a close-up of a wall in the Ca’ d’Oro palazzo because the sun was reflecting off the canal was a beautiful milky turquoise color that I’d never seen before in my life I told one of the teenagers that I badly wanted to swim in it She announced that I’d get really sick if I did that Even by suggesting I was open to swimming in the canal The other video is of some swaying seaweed attached to the stone wall lining the Giudecca like a marine millipede with many legs frayed into willowy tines A length of dental floss is caught between a few of the filaments peacefully undulates in the wake thrown by the vaporettos coming and going along the lagoon bringing the people with cameras and masks deeper and deeper into the city I was sad that I hadn’t found a trashless stretch of seaweed to commemorate my visit to Venice the dental floss — a little squiggle of optimism and humility (if dental floss could convey either) — seemed oddly to belong I always watch with the volume up to hear the sloshing and the squeaky rubbing of the docks humble anthem could be written to that music Heidi Julavits is the author of four novels and one book of nonfiction, “The Folded Clock.” She last wrote for the magazine about what she learned in avalanche school. Establishing a presence in the heart of Europe the Berggruen Institute today held its first event in Casa dei Tre Oci in Venice the historic building it has now formally acquired from the Fondazione di Venezia through the Nicolas Berggruen Charitable Trust The Institute intends to make Casa dei Tre Oci its center of European activity: a gathering place for global dialogue and new ideas housing an international program of summits and exhibitions in the visual arts and architecture To mark this milestone in its ten-year history the Institute announced in Casa dei Tre Oci that philosopher Peter Singer is the 2021 recipient of the $1 million Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture given annually to thinkers whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement in a rapidly changing world Peter Singer will receive the Prize in the Spring of 2022 in a ceremony to be held in Los Angeles Commenting on the acquisition of Casa dei Tre Oci ‘You take delight not in a city’s seven or seventy wonders but in the answer it gives to a question of yours.’ We see Venice as a gateway for those seeking answers to the most pressing questions and challenges of our time—and Casa dei Tre Oci as the nexus of the Institute’s work in developing ideas to build a better world We are deeply grateful to take this step forward with the Fondazione di Venezia in establishing a European presence We look forward to developing our program at the Tre Oci in the coming years.” said “I thank Nicolas Berggruen for the collaborative spirit that the Institute brought to the Fondazione di Venezia in acquiring Casa dei Tre Oci We celebrate the realization of a project of international stature consistent with the institutional purpose of the Fondazione and with the history and character of this building With Casa dei Tre Oci continuing to be the site of constructive discussion on contemporary issues we look forward to the prospects of its future cooperation with other institutions in Venice placing it at the center of the city’s cultural life.” In centering its European program at Casa dei Tre Oci the Berggruen Institute will preserve the building’s function and identity as part of the cultural fabric of Venice Tre Oci will attract local and international guests scientists and technologists—across cultures and political boundaries—to develop and promote long-term answers to the biggest challenges of the 21st century the Fondazione di Venezia will continue to use the Tre Oci to present its program of photography exhibitions for two years and will potentially work with the Institute on future exhibitions Designed as a private home and studio by the artist Mario De Maria and built on the Giudecca in 1913 the neo-Gothic Casa dei Tre Oci has a long history of hosting artists and intellectuals (including participants in the Venice Biennale) and serving as a venue for cultural meetings and debates The Fondazione di Venezia acquired the Tre Oci in 2000 conducted a careful architectural restoration and in 2012 reopened the building to the public as a space for photography exhibitions the Regional Directorate for Cultural and Landscape Heritage of the Veneto declared the Tre Oci to be an asset of historical and artistic interest Berggruen Arts & Culture will present a series of artist conversations in partnership with ArtReview at Casa dei Tre Oci The Lagoon City of Venice is ready to welcome Pope Francis on Sunday for his one-day visit with the motto "Remaining united in the love of Christ." from the Vatican at 6:30 am and is scheduled to land at about 8 am in the Square in front of the Giudecca Women’s Prison Facility which houses about 80 inmates deliver an address and listen to some of their stories Archbishop Francesco Moraglia notes in this interview by Vatican News the Holy Father’s meeting with women who are suffering is characteristic of his style and sets the tone for a visit undertaken in the spirit of mercy What does Pope Francis' presence mean for your diocese and how do you interpret the choice of the Giudecca prison as the first stop of his visit and especially having chosen it as the first stop of his visit to the entire Church of Venice It asks the city and those who may be “resistant” to setting their gaze on this place of expiation and pain to strive to make it increasingly one of redemption of human and spiritual growth for the guests who are present here the guests have long stays and in a way makes things simpler because it leads to a certain familiarity on the other more difficult because having to stay in a restricted perimeter for a long time can become problematic I thank the Holy Father for his choice and for his intuition  I believe that from now on this prison will always remain not only for those who have had this experience of the Pope's visit a way of understanding justice with mercy and wanting to bet on people who have certainly made mistakes The Giudecca is not only a place of confinement but since the beginning of the 60th edition of the International Venice Biennale it has been dedicated to the theme of “the stranger” and is a place that hosts works of art born from the encounter between the inmates and artists… there is a significant presence of non-Italian guests in the prisons and here too many foreigners find themselves living in this place of expiation and suffering usually to others but particularly to those who are strangers because we have not yet met them Focusing on this theme – because the Gospel says that the eyes are the mirror of the soul – I believe it is the key that can truly help us to grow in a very difficult context for harmony between peoples and individuals and mercy held together by how we look at them Is there a particular artwork that struck you in the Holy See Pavilion that is entitled "With My Eyes" the artwork at the entrance (created by the Brazilian artist Sonia Gomes) the garments worn by the women hanging from above reach the ground but remain suspended It seems to me a beautiful image of man and woman who are the custodians of humanity which bear the signs of daily struggle and are suspended between heaven and earth Venice Photo courtesy of the Berggruen Institute The Paris-born collector Nicolas Berggruen is expanding his empire acquiring the historic Casa dei Tre Oci in Venice which will act as the European base for his cultural thinktank known as the Berggruen Institute The billionaire plans to use the space to host symposia workshops and exhibitions in partnership with major museums such as London's Tate and the Museum of Modern Art in New York Berggruen signed a preliminary agreement in March to buy the Venetian landmark building on the Giudecca island. The prime piece of Venice real estate was acquired for the Berggruen Institute from the Fondazione di Venezia by the Nicolas Berggruen Charitable Trust. Earlier this week, the Institute announced at the Casa dei Tre Oci that the Australian philosopher and Princeton professor Peter Singer is the latest recipient of the $1m Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture, given annually to “thinkers whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement in a rapidly changing world”, according to a statement. Singer advocates “utilitarianism”, a philosophy based on maximising happiness and well-being. The Casa dei Tre Oci, built on the Giudecca in 1913, was the private home and studio of the artist Mario De Maria. During the Venice Biennale, the neo-Gothic property is a popular meeting point for artists and arts professionals. The Berggruen Institute, located in a downtown Los Angeles venue, focuses “on four big issues: democracy, capitalism, geopolitics and globalisation, and the transformations of the human”, says Berggruen. The former UK prime minister Tony Blair sit on the institute’s governance group. La Casa dei Tre Oci will be the Berggruen Institute's space for its European programming with plans to partner with major museums such as Tate and MoMA news16 March 2022Billionaire collector Nicolas Berggruen snaps up his second Venetian palace Scheduled to open in 2024 Palazzo Diedo will house an exhibition and art residency space The Holy See Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition – Venice Biennale—to go on display in the Giudecca Women’s Prison—will illustrate the ability of inmates to welcome art to transform their lives This was the message conveyed at the press conference held at the Holy See Press Office on Monday regarding the Pavilion, which will take place in the northern Italian city from 20 April to 24 November 2024 The project is unprecedented  for the Venice Biennale thanks to its physical and conceptual installation inside the Giudecca Women's Prison Presenters at the press event were Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education; Giovanni Russo head of the Department of Prison Administration of the Ministry of Justice of the Italian Republic; Dr curator of the Holy See Pavilion; and, Dr. Paolo Maria Vittorio Grandi, Chief Governance Officer of Intesa Sanpaolo Entitled “With My Own Eyes,” the Pavilion is dedicated to the theme of human rights and people living on the margins of society and seeks to draw the world’s attention to those people who are largely ignored while fostering a culture of encounter The Holy See Pavilion invites the viewer to take Pope Francis’ words literally as he invites everyone to look others directly in the eyes looking beyond their social status to encounter their humanity "Contemporary culture prefers to metaphorize sight," said Cardinal Mendonça "But seeing with one's own eyes gives vision a unique status as it directly involves us in reality and makes us not spectators but witnesses." The 2024 Art Biennale of Venice bears the title “Foreigners Everywhere” and will be open from April 20 until November 24 Pope Francis will make a one-day pastoral visit to Venice where he will make a stop at the Exhibition making him the first Pope in history to attend the Venice Biennale.  The Holy Father will take a moment to appreciate the  Pavilion at the exhibit in the Prison and will spend some time with members of the Church community in Venice Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça told the journalists present Cardinal Mendonça said, "It is with great joy that we welcomed the news of Pope Francis's visit to the Pavilion." "It will be a historic moment," the Cardinal Prefect underscored "as he will be the first Pope to visit the Venice Biennale which clearly demonstrates the Church's willingness to consolidate a fruitful and close dialogue with the world of arts and culture." The Cardinal stressed that it is no coincidence that the Holy See has chosen to present its pavilion at the Venice Biennale in a seemingly unexpected place such as the Women's Prison on the island of Giudecca He added that neither is it a "coincidence that the title of the pavilion 'With My Own Eyes,' aims to focus our attention on the importance of how we responsibly conceive Regaining the ability to look at reality as a starting point for redesigning it is what Pope Francis stressed during his meeting with artists in June 2023 in the Sistine Chapel when he urged artists to "have the ability to dream new versions of the world." The year in which the Art Biennale celebrates its 60th anniversary also marks 60 years since the first showing of Pier Paolo Pasolini's film "The Gospel According to Matthew," which was first screened in Venice the Cardinal recalled that Chapter 25 of St 'For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat...,' remains "one of the most commented biblical texts by Pope Francis" throughout his pontificate Cardinal Mendonça expressed his gratitude to the Italian authorities the Ministry of Justice represented by the Head of the Department of the National Penitentiary Administration all collaborating in the realization of the pavilion the president of the Department of Prison Administration of Italy's Ministry of Justice stressing that artistic work and commitment help inmates rebuild their lives has put them in contact with universal values and helps them have confidence in themselves." to be "protagonists," in a way "that connected them with universal values" and "with great spiritual and practical value."  and recalled that the women's prison had before been a convent that had helped women rediscover their dignity through the Church's help with a very beautiful history," he stressed also discussed its work to include the spontaneous contributions of inmates illustrating how their involvement greatly enriches the venue Dr. Paolo Maria Vittorio Grandi, Chief Governance Officer of Intesa Sanpaolo spoke of the bank's great dedication to art "This is not a matter of philanthropy but rather part of what it means to be part of the group of Intesa Sanpaolo." Fàbrica 33, Calle Larga dei Boteri, Cannaregio Photo-documentation of works in transit for By the Means at Hand (2024) There are “foreigners everywhere” says the title of this year’s international Biennale exhibition and Vlatka Horvat has enlisted some of them for her Croatian pavilion. She has invited fellow artists who are living away from their homelands to create a small-scale work and send it to her in Venice. In return they will get one of Horvat’s photo-montages of Venice—she is using the pavilion as a temporary studio during the Biennale. The twist is that the works have to be delivered through informal means – passed on hand-to-hand by networks of strangers. This underlines the importance of improvised support networks both for people living in foreign lands and for artists everywhere. The exhibition includes an ever-changing display of the works that have come in, as well as records of how they got there. Horvat hopes the finished collection will be preserved as a whole by an institution. Edith Karlson’s Hora Lupi (2024) Photo: © Anu Vahtra With my eyes, Maurizio Cattelan, Bintou Demélé, Simone Fattal, Claire Fontaine, Sonia Gomes, Corita Kent, Marco Perego and Zoe Saldana, Claire Tabouret Claire Fontaine in the Holy See pavilion Photo: © Marco Cremascoli Traces: On the Body and on the Land, Giana De Dier, Cisco Merel, Brooke Alfaero, Isabel de Obaldía Isabel de Obaldía, Selva (2014) © The Art Newspaper BulgariaThe Neighbours, Krasimira Butseva, Julian Chehirian and Lilia TopouzovaSala Tiziano-Centro Culturale Don Orinoe Artigianelli, Fondamenta Delle Zattere Ai Gesuati 919 Krasimira Butseva, Julian Chehirian and Lilia Topouzova's The Neighbours in the Bulgarian pavilion Image: courtesy of the Bulgarian pavilion The Bulgarian pavilion recreates a darkened apartment from the country’s Communist era to tell the stories of survivors of political violence. Different elements are activated sporadically throughout the domestic setting: a record player blares before swiftly switching off, bird song plays in the background, lights flicker ominously over a straw bed, a sewing machine suddenly whirrs into life, making visitors jump. so we've rounded up a few things you might want to skip review17 April 2024Venice Biennale 2024: the must-see pavilions in the ArsenaleArtists draw with their eyes and play with Zeus at the city's former shipyards and armories review16 April 2024Venice Biennale 2024: the must-see pavilions in the GiardiniFrom cocoa-covered creations here is our selection of top shows from the first preview day staff and volunteers at Giudecca jail during first trip outside Rome for months The pope has met female prisoners in Venice who are stars of the Vatican’s pavilion at the Biennale contemporary art show and urged the women to rebuild their lives in the first ever papal visit to one of the world’s biggest art gatherings arrived by helicopter in the courtyard of the women’s prison on the island of Giudecca He has not travelled outside Rome since visiting the French city of Marseille in September who throughout his papacy has spoken up in defence of prisoners and the marginalised encouraged the women to reconstruct their lives “brick upon brick with determination” during their time in prison Francis called on the prison system to “offer detainees the tools and room for human, spiritual, cultural and professional growth, creating the conditions for their healthy reintegration”. Read moreThe pope toured an art exhibition housed at the prison which examines the daily lives of the inmates through the work of 10 different artists. The exhibit is the Vatican’s entry for this year’s Biennale festival of art Pope Francis said the artistic event could symbolise ‘the beginning of something new’ for the prisoners Photograph: Vatican Pool/Getty ImagesAs some of the women wept a stay in prison can mark the beginning of something new through the rediscovery of the unsuspected beauty in us and in others as symbolised by the artistic event you are hosting and the project to which you actively contribute,” he said The Vatican exhibit has turned the Giudecca prison – once a convent for reformed prostituted women – into one of the must-see attractions of this year’s Biennale visitors must reserve in advance and go through a security check It has become an unusual art world attraction with visitors greeted at the entrance by Maurizio Cattelan’s wall mural of two giant filthy feet a work that recalls Caravaggio’s dirty feet or the feet that Francis washes each year in a Holy Thursday ritual that he routinely performs on prisoners Francis’s visit represented “a historic moment because he will be the first pope to visit the Venice Biennale,” said the exhibition’s lead curator during a meeting with young people at the iconic Santa María della Salute basilica Francis acknowledged the miracle that is Venice admiring its “enchanting beauty” and tradition as a place of east-west encounters but warning that it was increasingly vulnerable to climate change and depopulation “Venice is at one with the waters upon which it sits,” Francis said “Without the care and safeguarding of this natural environment Free newsletterA digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day sinking under rising sea levels and weighed down by the impact of overtourism is in the opening days of an experiment to try to limit the sort of day trips that Francis undertook on Sunday This weekend, the city launched a new entry fee for daytrippers aimed at easing the pressure of tourism on the Unesco world heritage site the head of the Catholic church was exempt from buying a €5 (£4.25) ticket – but non-resident pilgrims visiting for his mass had to pay But he said the city also faced an array of challenges all these realities risk generating … frayed social relations a bout of bronchitis forced the pope to cancel a trip to Dubai where he was to have addressed UN climate talks He also pulled out of an Easter event at the last minute in March after suffering for several weeks from what the Vatican called a “light flu” has suffered increasing health problems in recent years from knee pain to surgery for a hernia and on his colon the Vatican is planning for him an ambitious 12-day trip to Asia in September the pope is due to make two other trips within Italy: to Verona in May and Trieste in July Pope Francis gives his blessing to a female detainee inside the courtyard of the Giudecca women’s prison in Venice April 28 20240428T1125-POPE-VENICE-PRISON-1775747 web Italy — The rusted wrought iron frame and grate of an old well became a garden of crocheted flowers inside the courtyard of the Giudecca women’s prison in Venice The handmade garlands also adorned the archways’ brick columns and copper drainpipes prison staff and volunteers applauded and smiled when Pope Francis told them he wanted to meet them first on his one-day visit to Venice April 28 to tell them he wanted their moment together to be a chance to “give each other time “Today we will all leave this courtyard richer — perhaps the one who will leave richer will be me — and the good we will exchange will be precious,” said the pope who has visited over a dozen prisons in his 11-year-long pontificate “Prison is a harsh reality and problems such as overcrowding the lack of facilities and resources and episodes of violence give rise to a great deal of suffering there,” he said But the women’s time in detention can also become an occasion of “moral and material rebirth” because no one can ever take away a person’s dignity their dignity can be promoted through mutual respect and “the nurturing of talents and abilities perhaps dormant or imprisoned by the vicissitudes of life but which can re-emerge for the good of all and which deserve attention and trust.” It can be a time for a courageous look at and an evaluation of one’s own life it is fundamental also for the prison system to offer detainees the tools and room for human creating the conditions for their healthy reintegration.” never to give up and always look to the future with hope “I like to think of hope as an anchor that is anchored in the future and we go forward with the rope anchored in the future.” Several women presented the pope with gifts they and other detainees made in the prison’s different workshops One basket was filled with samples of their soaps shampoos and other natural products and a red bag contained a handmade white zucchetto tailored by the women The pope also received a small basket filled with white and yellow crocheted roses made by the same women who decorated the courtyard to symbolize the fight against violence against women was the site of the Holy See’s pavilion for the Venice Biennale art exhibition The women were encouraged to contribute to the exhibit and one unidentified detainee told the pope they were “shocked and full of joy” to be asked to participate and to feel “useful.” Pope Francis is the first pope to attend the Venice Biennale which is a prestigious international art exhibition featuring art prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education and curator of the Holy See’s pavilion welcomed the pope inside the prison chapel which was decorated with dozens of festoons made from colorful fabrics knits and other objects hanging from the ceiling special guests and artists whose work was showcased in the pavilion: Maurizio Cattelan Marco Perego and Zoe Saldana and Claire Tabouret “We must not forget that in the history of the church’s relationship with the arts there have also been ambiguities and harsh tensions,” the cardinal said in his remarks The pope’s visit to the biennale was a clear sign of ushering in “a new style” where different views can be “woven” together in freedom as part of a more “authentic journey we can make together” rather than an “obsessive assertion of power,” the cardinal said “This pavilion is a testimony to that,” he said because they did not seek out “safe” artists but invited people to present what they themselves see we chose to be tenants and neighbors rather than hosts.” Pope Francis said he wanted to meet and thank the artists personally; “the world needs artists,” he said “It would be important if the various artistic practices could establish themselves everywhere as a sort of network of cities of refuge cooperating to rid the world of the senseless and by now empty oppositions that seek to gain ground in racism that terrible neologism that means ‘fear of the poor,’ ” he said to imagine cities that do not yet exist on the maps: cities where no human being is considered a stranger,” he said “We are proposing to be ‘brothers and sisters everywhere,’ ” he said The Holy See’s pavilion is dedicated to the theme “We all need to be looked at and to dare to look at ourselves.” Jesus looks at everyone with “a love that does not judge but knows how to be close and to encourage And I would say that art educates us in this type of outlook but neither indifferent nor superficial,” he said The pope criticized the predatory exaltation and commercialization of art that risks “preying on creativity coldly instructing on what is to be done.” He also encouraged listening to women artists “because they have something important to teach us I am thinking of artists such as Frida Khalo “I hope with all my heart that contemporary art can open our eyes helping us to value adequately the contribution of women as co-protagonists of the human adventure,” he said Arlington Catholic Herald200 N. Glebe Rd.Suite 615Arlington, VA 22203703-841-2590800-377-0511 Website Design and Development by New Target ChevronChevronPhotosSave this storySaveSave this storySaveReviewed by Jenna ScatenaYou've just walked in: Give us your first impression.As the name suggests Situated at the top of the Hilton Molino Stucky Venice on Giudecca island the views stretch all the way to Piazza San Marco and hightop tables provide differing perspectives on the cinematic views—which are the best you’ll find in town So who’s there?This Venice bucket list bar draws nearly all the well-heeled travelers coming through town and the ritzy outfits match the views prepared for an obligatory sunset photoshoot What's on offer for food?The food menu is much more limited than the drink menu, but Italian bar bites and Mediterranean salads are available. How did you find the staff?The professional staff here goes above and beyond, offering modifications to suit guests’ palates. What's the bottom line?You should come for sunset—but to do so, you’ll need to book ahead, or come well before the actual sunset to stake out an ideal table. During summer, live music and DJs inject a celebratory vibe into the atmosphere. The Sunday TimesIn a city where an estimated 20m of the 30m annual tourists come for a day’s hit-and-run on the Rialto and St Mark’s Giudecca is a rare place where you’re more likely to jostle with a shopping trolley than a suitcase I’m here with a single aim: to avoid the hordes I don’t want to mix with the selfie-takers and packed-lunch eaters who have hit the headlines in recent years I don’t want to see the Grand Canal or the Doge’s Palace I do want to spend my money at local businesses on people who have to live in a theme park Maurizio Cattelan’s mural decorates the exterior of Giudecca Women’s Prison | all images courtesy of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Culture and Education Before even entering the venue, the Holy See Pavilion (find more here) redefines the prison space into an otherworldly setting A striking mural by artist Maurizio Cattelan adorns the detention center’s facade a diverse array of artworks awaits guests: neon installations by Claire Fontaine vibrant pieces by the renowned Pop Art Nun Corita Kent video works by Marco Perego & Zoe Saldana Visits to the Pavilion are strictly by reservation and guided by prisoner-conferencers challenging the voyeuristic urge and preconceptions towards both artists and inmates This blurs the lines between observer and observed prompting reflection on power dynamics within art and institutions overseen by COR arquitectos and Flavia Chiavaroli Studio embodies an artistic community born from defiance reflecting the unity and diversity of disparate lives echoing the urgency of the multifaceted dialogue advocated by Pope Francis becoming the first Pontiff in history to attend the Venice Biennale one of Claire Fontaine’s neon light pieces Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça Prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Culture and Education and Commissioner of the Pavilion entrusted the curatorship of Con i miei occhi to Chiara Parisi and Bruno Racine ‘In a surprising corner of the world artists and female inmates join expressive forces in an unusual collaboration prison reality and unlimited artistic expression meet and seduce each other: this is the heart of the Holy See Pavilion at the Biennale Arte 2024 a project with an incredible visual narrative With My Eyes invites us to explore the stories and desires of those living inside the prison through projects and vital spaces such as gyms and gardens,’ Chiara Parisi says will allow female inmates to guide visitors ‘through their eyes,’ revealing how beauty and hope are woven into everyday life and how the need for freedom persists in the complexity and criticality of life.’ Artists from various backgrounds and without distinction of faith come together in this place to bear witness to a universal message of inclusion working closely with the inmates and enriching the project with their artistic and relational work,’ Bruno Racine shares ‘Visitors are invited to immerse themselves in this intense poetic experience deprived of their digital devices and guided by trained female inmates thus embarking on a journey that challenges preconceptions and opens up new perspectives on art as a medium for human expression and connection Although it is forbidden to take photographs we trust that this experience will remain in the visitor’s memory…with their eyes.’ Sonia Gomes is composed of multiple fabric sculptures close-up shot of Claire Tabouret’s works Corita Kent’s works are installed within the spaces of the detention center Claire Fontaine’s installation illuminates in the dark the piece reads ‘siamo con voi nella notte’ meaning ‘we are with you in the night’ happening now! partnering with antonio citterio, AXOR presents three bathroom concepts that are not merely places of function, but destinations in themselves — sanctuaries of style, context, and personal expression. Why did this hotel catch your attention? What's the vibe? Generator brought its signature brand of design-savvy backpacker hostels to Venice in 2013, when it opened on Giudecca island. Some folks will love this un-touristed offshoot, which has a view across the water to Piazza San Marco; others will be irritated by the fact that there’s no way to the center other than a (rather expensive) ferry. What's the backstory? Venice’s old ostello was a sad place until the Generator chain moved in and gave it a sharp designer makeover, all while preserving the palazzo’s historic architectural features. Is there a charge for Wi-Fi? Wi-fi, included in the room rate, is good. Drinking and dining—what are we looking at? There are many evenings when the ground floor of Generator is party central—something to bear in mind if you’re a light sleeper or staying with kids. There are cooked or continental breakfast options (all extra); food in the restaurant and drinks at the bar are slightly cheaper than elsewhere in town. What type of travelers will you find here? Backpackers and budget travelers. What about the neighborhood? Does the hotel fit in, make itself part of the scene? On sunny days and warm evenings, Generator guests spread across the quiet footpath on Giudecca island, basking in the sun and taking in the view across the water. Bottom line: Worth it? Why? In high season, this hotel—like just about everything in Venice—is more expensive than you might expect for dorm-like digs. But that doesn’t stop it being wildly popular. A major exhibition of Hermann Nitsch (Vienna is being held in Venice at the Oficine 800 space at Fondamenta San Biagio on the island of Giudecca titled 20th Painting Action runs from April 19 to July 20 in collaboration with Helmut Essl’s private collection and Galerie Kandlhofer the only pictorial action of the artist whose works are entirely kept in the same collection it will be possible to see the works for the first time in Italy since their creation.“To every age its freedom”: this is the motto of art critic Ludwig Hevesi that can be read above the portal of the Wiener Secession in Vienna Only a few artists have tested the boundaries of freedom as consistently as Hermann Nitsch (and been attacked for doing so Nitsch clung to his idea of the fusion of all the arts and stands today as one of the major figures in 20th-century art history Nitsch created a total work of art for all the senses; he expanded the traditional parameters of painting and theater; he brought worship found at the beginning of the evolution of art back into contemporary art; he fused art with life was the pioneer ofViennese Actionism: on November 18 during which the painting no longer depicted anything outside the painting itself but represented pure color the immediate gesture and its precise occurrence in time In 1957 Nitsch began to elaborate the idea of his Orgien Mysterien Theater Influenced by the philosophy of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer Greek tragedy and the concept of the “total work of art” developed by Richard Wagner Nitsch conceived of a gigantic totalizing theatrical act a synaesthetic experience lasting several days Among the themes he pours intoOrgien Mysterien Theater are the story of Oedipus the Grail legend and the legend of the Nibelungen overlapping religion and myth in a grand cultural collage The fundamental purpose of the broad mass of ideas that makes up his Orgien Mysterien Theater is the intensification of the experience of life and the increased joy of existence that comes with it art takes on the same functions performed by religions devoting himself exclusively to his actions and working on the creation of his last 6-Tages -Spiel (Six-Day Theater) Nitsch returned toaction painting-a decision to be interpreted not only as functional to his work but also as a critical response to the painting of the Neuen Wilden (New Savages) malaktion he made at the Wiener Secession in 1987 stands out in importance because of its scope and the subjective significance Nitsch ascribes to it the central hall of the Secession building accommodates Nitsch contributing to what he aspired to from the beginning: the “sacralization of all art.” “the practice of art corresponds to a ritual.” The “Temple of Art” created by Josef Maria Olbrich in 1898 is thus transformed into a stage for cultic pictorial action It also becomes the fulfillment of a long-stored wish: in fact there is a sketch by Nitsch dedicated to an action in the Wiener Secession dated 1964 The works of the twentieth pictorial action impressively reveal their genesis which took place between “bursts of unrestrained fury and delicate gestures.” We are immersed in an actionist pictorial environment in which the fundamental constants of Nitsch’s work visually take shape revealing those characters of the momentary and the eternal Through a large-format work (5x20 mt) made with the pouring technique and placed on the front wall we are confronted with a panorama that fills the space No other work succeeds in so condensed a representation of the very essence of Nitsch’s painting understood as an integral part of his synaesthetic “Theater of Orgies and Mysteries.” Nitsch said smears and splashes of red-colored liquid can evoke intense excitement in the viewer leading him to experience very strong sensations.” the pictorial action aims to trigger in the audience an heightened experience of sensory reality by ideally leading them to a reflection on their own existence malaktion in the historic space of the Oficine 800 on the island of Giudecca not only allows a recapitulation of his most important works but also makes us retrace and relive Nitsch’s artistic ideas in tension between the ecstatic and the contemplative he is among the international pioneers of Performance Art he is one of the few universal contemporary artists TheOrgien Mysterien Theater (Theater of Orgies and Mysteries) is the realization of his idea of a total work of art In 1971 he bought Prinzendorf Castle in Lower Austria for his Orgien Mysterien Theater where he produced his last six-day action in 1998 after decades of preparation In 2007 a museum was dedicated to him in Mistelbach where his work is presented in all its facets a longtime friend of the artist and patron of his work created the Hermann Nitsch Museum in Naples Nitsch has been exhibited several times at documenta and during the Venice Biennale He has made more than 150 actions worldwide and retrospectives have been dedicated to him at the Van Abbe Museum in Eindhoven the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin and the Albertina in Vienna Nitsch’s works can be found in the world’s most important collections and museums Amsterdam; the Castello di Rivoli; the GAM Rovereto; Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen Cologne; Nationalgalerie Berlin; Lenbachhaus Munich; Staatsgemäldesammlung Munich; Staatsgalerie Stuttgart; Kunsthalle Hamburg; Kunstmuseum Bern; Kunstmuseum Winterthur; Albertina Vienna; Österreichische Galerie Belvedere For all information you can visit the Zuecca Projects website. Image: Hermann Nitsch, Schüttbild (action painting), 20th painting action, Secession Vienna (1987; oil on canvas, 200 x 300 cm). Photo by Liesl Biber. Courtesy of the Nitsch Foundation. ©Atelier Hermann Nitsch. A massive cruise ship lost control as it docked in Venice on Sunday crashing into the wharf and hitting a tourist boat after suffering an engine failure Tourists on land could be seen running away as the 13-deck MSC Opera scraped along the dockside amateur video footage posted on Twitter showed Five people were slightly injured in the accident at San Basilio-Zattere in Venice’s Giudecca Canal were on board the River Countess tourist boat which suffered mechanical trouble before in 2011 during a Baltic cruise can carry more than 2,500 passengers and boasts a theatre #Msc #incidente a #Venezia un video https://t.co/sUncqlNRbh — Monica Scapin🐄☀️⚽️⛵⚓📰 (@monicascapin77) June 2, 2019 #MSC un altro video #incidente a #Venezia https://t.co/DDYWlITnJz Ora qualcuno provi ancora a sostenere le grandi navi @58_andy — Monica Scapin🐄☀️⚽️⛵⚓📰 (@monicascapin77) June 2, 2019 which was immediately reported by the captain,” Davide Calderan head of a tugboat company involved in accompanying the ship into its berth because the speed was increasing,” he said The two tug boats that had been guiding the ship into the Giudecca tried to slow it but one of the chains linking them to the giant snapped under the pressure The accident reignited a heated row in the Serenissima over the damage caused to the city and its fragile ecosystem by cruise ships that sail exceptionally close to the shore While gondoliers in striped T-shirts and woven straw hats row tourists around the narrow canals the smoking chimneys of mammoth ships loom into sight behind the city’s picturesque bell towers and bridges Critics say the waves the ships create are eroding the foundations of the lagoon city leaving iconic sites such as Saint Mark’s Square underwater “What happened in the port of Venice is confirmation of what we have been saying for some time,” Italy’s Environment Minister Sergio Costa wrote on Twitter “Cruise ships must not sail down the Giudecca We have been working on moving them for months now… and are nearing a solution,” he said Paura a #Venezia. Grande nave sperona un'imbarcazione da turismo. All'origine dell'incidente una manovra sbagliata. Il filmato di quanto accaduto concesso dalla signora Daniela Bortolini #Ioseguotgr pic.twitter.com/U1BcllH2V8 — Tgr Rai Veneto (@TgrVeneto) June 2, 2019 Venice’s port authority said it was working to resolve the accident and free up the blocked canal in the north Italian city “In addition to protecting the Unesco heritage city and the safety of citizens and tourists,” Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli said noted Italy’s open-armed attitude to cruise ships contrasted sharply with its hostile approach to charity rescue vessels that help migrants who run into difficulty in the Mediterranean Sea “It is truly curious that a country that tries to stop ships that have saved people at sea from entering its ports allows giant steel monsters to risk carnage in Venice,” he said MSC Cruises, founded in Italy in 1960 is a global line registered in Switzerland and based in Geneva suffered a power failure in 2011 in the Baltic forcing some 2,000 people to be disembarked in Stockholm rather than continuing their Southampton to Saint Petersburg voyage 2019 8:53 PM [ET] | Originally published: June 2 2019 12:22 PM EDT;A colossal cruise ship crashed into a smaller tourist boat and a dock in Venice on Sunday Footage of the collision shows an approximately 900-foot-long MSC Opera blaring its horns and failing to slow down as it approached the San Basilio Terminal on the Giudecca Canal was docked and couldn’t move away from the terminal in time Four female tourists, including one American, were injured while falling or trying to run away, according to the Associated Press. The incident incited renewed calls to block off the cramped Giudecca canal from large vessels that drop off up to tens of thousands of visitors in the Italian city each day attributed the collision to a “technical problem” in a statement MSC said it was performing an investigation to “understand the exact dynamic of the facts,” the operator said, according to the New York Times said the crash proved what experts have long been warning “What happened in the port of Venice is the confirmation of what we have been saying for a long time: big ships must not pass by Giudecca,” he tweeted in Italian and that the risks the large ships posed were not yet proven In 2017, Italy banned the largest cruise ships from Venice’s Grand Canal, but also estimated it would take four years before the new port in a nearby town was complete, according to the BBC Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro urged immediate action to open an alternative route “It’s no longer thinkable that big ships can pass through the Giudecca Canal,” Brugnaro said “Now we must urgently make sure that ships no longer pass in front of St According to the cruise line, the MSC Opera is 65,591 tons has 1,071 staterooms and fits 2,150 passengers and 728 crew members Write to Abby Vesoulis at abby.vesoulis@time.com 2018Save this storySaveSave this storySaveAll products featured on Vogue are independently selected by our editors we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links Rainbow houses on BuranoPhoto: Courtesy of Skye McAlpineRight now is a magical time of year to visit Venice: the muggy heat of summer has evaporated but the days are still gloriously long and light and the city’s horizon—floating in the water in that improbable way that it has—cuts a particularly striking silhouette when it’s not too hot to sightsee and it’s just hot enough to sun yourself on the beach And then there’s the film festival: for two weeks the city is all abustle with film stars and parties and the frisson of fabulousness they bring with them a smattering of extra glamour falls upon the city Here, tips on navigating Venice during the festival: how to avoid the crowds by far the most dashing (and charming) drivers which is set in a golden frescoed ballroom—the stuff of Venetian fairytales where you sit on the water under the shade of parasols and can people-watch to your heart’s content Less about the food and more about the atmosphere: think salads with its wildflowers and wisteria laden pergolas is like something out of Alice in Wonderland or simply relax in the shade of the garden and have afternoon tea Their Risotto con Go (buttery white fish risotto) is a must which they make with fruit from the trees in the garden behind the restaurant where Ernest Hemingway famously wrote Across the River and Into the Trees Eat under the shade of the pergola and order the crepes suzette—it’s like taking a step back in time and straight into a Nancy Mitford novel Take an after-lunch amble around the island (it's tiny so it won’t take you long): visit the magnificent byzantine church pop into the adorable antiques store (with its resident cat sleeping amongst piles of 18th-century crockery) and climb up to the top of the bell tower for truly unparalleled views across the lagoon SEARCHJOIN CLUB Turner's The Western End of the Giudecca Canal from near the Convent of San Biagio e Cataldo from the Grand Canal and Giudecca Sketchbook (1840) (© Tate) J.M.W The Art Newspaper’s Book Club shines a light on art books in their myriad forms and brings you exclusive extracts, interviews and recommendations from leading art world figures. Sign up to our monthly newsletter “Turner’s views of Venice are among the most enduring responses to that spectacular but uniquely fragile city,” writes Ian Warrell the author of a new publication called Venice With Turner outlining depictions of the Italian city by J.M.W but his progress through the lagoon city is expertly captured in Warrell’s extensive survey The book includes the artist’s renderings of St Mark’s Basilica the Giudecca canal and the Fondamente Nove area along with other Venetian panoramas and landmarks The works are “as colourful and vibrant as Canaletto’s scenes; as wistful as Guardi’s skilful impressions; as mysterious as Whistler’s nocturnes; and as resonant as Monet’s late souvenirs,” Warrell writes Below are a selection of five images reflecting Turner’s Venetian odyssey from the Steps of the Europa (exhibited 1842) © Tate “Without even having to leave the steps of the Hotel Europa Turner had one of the finest views of Venice deep anchorage of the Bacino di San Marco [St Mark’s Basin],” Warell writes The artist’s vista is framed on the right by the Dogana da Mar and on the left by the majestic monastery church of San Giorgio Maggiore The scale of the panorama across the Bacino overwhelmed Turner “His sketchbooks frequently contain compositions that jump from page to page (and sometimes extend to further sheets) in order to encompass the great landmarks surrounding the ceremonial heart of the city,” Warrell says Turner would have seen Canaletto’s paintings of the Grand Canal which were widely reproduced as etchings by Antonio Visentini in the early 18th century Warrell points out that Turner subsequently painted the Grand Canal from the same viewpoints as Canaletto though both perhaps simply made use of the ferry points on the canal The gondola near the steps stands out in this watercolour while the Santa Maria della Salute church appears as a mirage on the left “Turner generally cropped or blurred its full baroque extravagance opting to represent it as a pale and ghostly presence defined by shade as much as by either sun or moonlight,” Warrell says The Church of San Luca and the Back of the Palazzo Grimani from the Rio San Luca (around 1840) © Tate Turner put his own spin on the off-the-beaten track areas of the city as well as the more populous routes Turner uses the framing device of a bridge arch in this gouache dominated by the 16th-century Palazzo Grimani which overlooks the Grand Canal and the smaller Rio San Luca canal off the city’s main waterway “A sequence of studies on grey and blue paper explore this smaller canal [Rio San Luca] which Turner first encountered 20 years earlier when staying nearby at the neighbouring Albergo Leon Bianco,” Warrell writes The discreet splashes of red paint anchor the busy work that conveys the grandeur of Venice’s architectural heritage from the Grand Canal and Giudecca Sketchbook (1840) © Tate showing a vessel in the foreground bathed in a blue light captures the vast scale of the Giudecca Canal allowing Turner to be slightly more experimental the western Giudecca was a place that resonated in his later work Much of this has to do with the width and openness of the canal which enabled him to produce expansive prospects of Venice where the waterfronts on either side frame the natural drama of light—whether sunrise or sunset—infusing and transforming the space in between.” The wispy outline of Venetian landmarks around the perimeter Looking across the Lagoon at Sunset (1840) © Tate Phythian eloquently described the colour scheme of this watercolour gold and orange in the sky made intensely luminous by the deep purple cloudlet dashed into the still wet wash of colour” an appropriate coda for a collection of works that reveal and revel in the distinctive watery light of Venice Warrell stresses that “the wide spaces of the lagoon were stimulating for Turner liberating him from the constrictions of more contained outlooks within the city Here sea and sky become as one and seem to extend without limits in a way that is timeless.” • For more of the best books on Turner, see An expert’s guide to J.M.W. Turner: four must-read books on the British painter Sign up to our monthly Book Club newsletter and follow us on social media using #TANbookclub