Milan, presentation of the book “The look of Venice” on February 26th
On Saturday 26 February at the Incipit23 literary café in via Casoretto, at 4.30 pm, the presentation of the photographic book “The look at Venice” (published by Incipit23) will take place together with the author Barbara Ainis and the actress Ottavia Piccolo, who signs the book. ‘introduction. An afternoon appointment to be able to closely observe the images, the excellent contributions and the words of the two women in the volume, as well as reflect on Venice, its past and its possible futures. Participation in the event is free subject to availability and a Green pass will be required to access.
The book
“The look at Venice” presents images taken from the Carlo Montanaro Archive, alternating with photographs of the lagoon city and the private life of its inhabitants, whether temporary or not. Space also for reflection with a series of suggestions to be collected by following, if desired, an order that is not necessarily linear. Published on the occasion of the world premiere of the documentary of the same name from which it is based (January 18, 2022, Teatro La Fenice, Venice) and of which Ainis is the author of the text, this elegant volume takes up its polyphonic structure. The author leads the reader into a historical, philosophical and existential reflection on Venice and its possible futures, also giving space and voice to the interventions of many and prestigious personalities of the international cultural scene with unpublished contents.
The protagonists of the volume
In addition to the actress Ottavia Piccolo, there is also an intervention by Carlo Montanaro, scholar and film critic, as well as a great collector of proto-photography and pre-cinema, who explores the theme of the technical evolution of the image and representation. Interventions also by Pierre Rosenberg and Cesare de Seta, Donatella Calabi and Silvia Penati, Tomaso Montanari and Paolo Sorcinelli.
The content
From the Grand Tour to the Belle Époque, from the years of mass tourism to the unreal emptiness of St. Mark’s Square in the days of the lockdown and the pandemic, Venice has preserved its beauty intact over time, but has profoundly changed its essence, to the point of risking to lose it. Conditioned by its progressive spectacularization, it has come to coincide with the mythologized image, so much so as to give rise to a lacerating doubt about the city, that is, if its own still exists beyond the observation that one has on it and if Venice is still in time to rethink herself and regain possession of her own identity.
Who is Ottavia Piccolo
Ottavia Piccolo defines herself as “a strange Venetian”. She grew up in Rome, she has worked in the capital and in Milan with sacred monsters of theater and cinema. She went to Venice first with Strehler and then to attend the Biennale, and she has chosen it for many years as her home.