Special Projects of the Historical Archive – International Centre for Research on Contemporary Arts

La Biennale di Venezia presents three Special Projects of the Historical Archive – International Centre for Research on the Contemporary Arts for the coming months of October and November.

On Tuesday 6 October at 6:30 pm, in the Sala delle Colonne at Ca’ Giustinian, the event titled In alto mar per dritto segno, il canto di Dante per Francesco will be held on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi. At the heart of this Biennale della Parola event, Canto XI and the concluding verses of Canto X of Dante Alighieri’s Paradiso will be read by Lucilla Giagnoni, with a commentary by the Patriarch of Venice, H.E. Most Rev. Francesco Moraglia.
Free reservation

The new premises of the Historical Archive at the Arsenale will also host two major initiatives that, through theatre, memory and thought, reflect its vocation as a space not only for preservation, but also for research, production and, therefore, active reflection on the cultural roots of the present. It is a place where the memory preserved by the Archive can once again question the present and the future, fostering encounters between different languages, disciplines and forms of knowledge.

On Wednesday, 4 November, from 6:00 pm to 1:00 am, La veglia dell’Acqua Granda conceived by Marco Paolini and Michela Signori as part of the Atlante delle Rive project, with the collaboration of Davide Iodice, will accompany audiences through a long evening devoted to the memory of the exceptional high tide of 4 November 1966, an event that profoundly marked Venice and its recent history. The vigil at the new premises of the Archive at the Arsenale will transform the memory of that night into an experience of storytelling and listening, interweaving theatre and history in a place now called upon to preserve and reactivate the memory of the city and of La Biennale.
Information on how to attend will be available shortly.

From Monday, 16 to Friday, 20 November, the Archive will host the second edition of the Biennale della Parola, entitled La colonna e il fondamento della verità, dedicated to Pavel A. Florenskij (1882–1937), philosopher, theologian, mathematician and scientist, with dramaturgy and direction by Antonello Pocetti, with Dario Aita and Alessio Vassallo as performers. Music and orchestral direction are by Filippo Perocco, with Ensemble L’arsenale and the participation of soprano Livia Rado. Following the first edition, devoted to the commentary on Meister Eckhart (March 2025, Portego delle Colonne of the Scuola Grande di San Marco), the project continues its exploration of the word as an instrument of knowledge and transmission, through five evenings dedicated to Florenskij’s thought and his relationship with truth. The first evening, “Truth”, will open the programme on 16 November.
Information on how to attend will be available shortly.