On The Waters

Distretto Veneziano della Ricerca e dell’Innovazione Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

On The Waters

Curated by Costanza Sartoris and Erica Villa
November, 11 – December, 11, 2022

On November, 12, 2019 Venice lived an exceptional high tide event which caused the worst flood ever occurred in the City, compared only to a similar phenomenon, which made history, in 1966.

The huge impact caused on Venice, on its people and on the fragile lagoon ecosystem left an unforgettable recollection in the memory of who lived it and of who came to help during the hours and the days immediately after.

Thanks to the current technological devices, it is possible to go back to those moments and discover the digital traces left in the community: photos, videos, chat, audio and messages exchanged during the event, which were followed by public discussions on the social media.

The exhibition is closely related to the wider project “AquaGranda”, released on November, 12, 2020 by the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, as a partner of the European project H2020 ODYCCEUS, and by the DVRI (Distretto Veneziano della Ricerca e dell’Innovazione; the Venetian District for Research and Innovation), in order to realize the first collective digital memory on an extreme event, linked to climate change.

Photos, recordings, messages, multimedia materials which have not been published until now on the web and captured by the Venetians by their mobile phones, go to make up this “Digital Collective Memory” made by citizens for citizens; a dynamical system which allows to everyone to access, consult, implement the content.

The exposition wishes to invite the citizens and the visitors of Venice not to forget the 2019 flood in one of the most charming places of the City – the church of the “Pio loco” delle Penitenti -, where the event occurred three years ago has left its mark, as well as in almost all historical buildings – and private ones, of course.