What to see in Venice

Venice still attracts many tourists who come to this city in search of its romantic little streets, museums, sailing of course in its canals and gondolas and many other attractions offered by this wonderful city. However, it is important to offer some information to make your trip much more interesting and likewise helpful. As always it depends on the type of trip you want to achieve, what are your expectations and that what you want to find.

Usually it’s best to go at your own pace, to explore the city on your own. If you only have a few days and your short of time perhaps a tour guide may be the best option. When choosing a guide, try beforehand to find some information about him or the company he works for on the internet. Plenty online forums have recommendations and comments about the various services available in the city. If a guide is known and efficient, you will find him it in the network, or at his tour company. Guides are better in groups, on the internet you can also find people looking to tour with groups, which will be useful to make more friends and acquaintances.

If you prefer to be alone, do not hesitate to use applications for your smart phone, those that let you know the city at your own pace and without missing any tourist attraction. Just search the web for a variety of applications for mobile phones. Some are free, and give full explanations of what to find in the cities you visit, from restaurants to museums, recreation areas, and bars.

Going to Venice can be a bit uncomfortable due to the large number of tourists visiting the city on a daily basis. As you can imagine, pickpocketing is normal as in all tourist populated cities  Always carry your personal belongings in a small purse, always keep it close to you. Never take more than you truly need during your journey through a city you visit. For example, a good package for a day trip  includes your camera of course, necessary documentation, some money and maybe something light to eat and a bottle of water. Leave other personal effects in your hostel or wherever you are resting. Try to be practical in your journey and lighten your load, so you enjoy better all the wonders that Venice has to offer.

Being a tourist town, many people speak English in Venice. Try to communicate in that language if you find it handy, and it does not hurt to know some Italian words like hello, goodbye, asking for the bill, ask for permission, thanks, apologies, etc.. Knowing something of the language of the place you visit that is always practical and allows for a better communication with the people you meet in different areas of the city. You will find that the Venetians are very friendly and cordial.

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Venice Beautiful canals and small streets await you on a journey that definitely will stay in the retina of your memory for a long time.

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Translated by: Marc
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“Venezia” is an ambitious show. This is a drama with moments of comedy on the history of this bustling city. This play is aimed primarily at an international audience. The show is narrated entirely in English and it is very easy to follow the storyline. If you want, you can hear the play in 7 different languages: Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian, Chinese and Japanese. This show will be on display, at the intimate and cozy Teatro San Gallo, a few steps from the famous Piazza San Marco, in the center of Venice.

The show is a great way to learn more about the history and customs of the city of Venice in an hour and twenty minutes, during which you will have a few laughs secured thanks to the magnificent staging and a fine cast of international actors.

“Venezia” is a story of the struggle for power, passion, romance and beauty, suffered by Giacomo Casanova, Lord Byron, Marco Polo, Doge Falier, Vivaldi, Goldoni, Galuppi and many more famous people who inhabited the city, all slightly mixed with doses of scandalous acts and humor. The show will help you to understand the city of Venice behind its mask, while you are being, entertained and informed by a fantastic performance, as well as by impressive projections that provide an incredible backdrop for such a fabulous representation. It is rated as the best live show we can now witness in the city of canals.

The framework chosen for this fantastic event was the Teatro San Gallo, which is considered to be one of the most flexible of the whole Italy. Do not be fooled by its 260 seats, because for special occasions, it can accommodate more visitors and even the chairs can disappear, to create a transparent environment, suitable for dances, parties or events of diverse nature. The lighting system, video and sophisticated surround sound, is able to create environments so real like a raging storm or ducal palace in Venice. The theater has individual sets of headphones, through which you can listen to the show “Venezia” in the language you prefer, without losing a single detail of the representation.

You can buy the tickets in many different online platforms. The price for adults is 39 €, for students and children over 14, € 25, younger children have free entrance. For families of 4 members,(parents and two younger children) there is a reduced ticket of € 90. You also have a special offer to buy the same pack of tickets to the performance and for a gondola ride through the Venetian canals.

The performance will take place from the 1^st of December 2011, to the 30^th of April 2012.

Do not miss the opportunity to attend such a unique representation in one of the cities that has inspired more stories, and romances in the world. For more information: http://www.teatrosangallo.net/Venezia/HOME.html

Fernando Paterna

We recommend you to plan your trip in advance and rent apartments in Venice It is an inexpensive and very comfortable way to get to know the monuments, museums and attractions that this unique Italian city has. Visit its shops and markets, stroll along its streets and enjoy its original and amazing cuisine.

Translated by: Hans
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Venice is a city that nobody should miss out on. Strangely beautiful, it produces that magnificent feeling of living hanging in time, with its gondolas and canals which make it a sailable city. However, that beauty is one of the most expensive cities in the world, and for that we’ll give you some tips on how to fully enjoy your stay.

To get to know every one of the little corners of this old city, you should organize a tour whose routes you can do by walking, because transport is expensive. Also, remember that this city is only small and you only need to buy a map which guides you around the streets which, many times, are like a labyrinth.

An example of this is going to St Marco Square, a place which everyone knows from the postcards, film or television, but being there is a unique experience. From there you can go to everywhere which surrounds it which is full of history. This tour lasts a day.

Don’t try and find a cheap restaurant in this area, and remember that the furthers from St Marco Square, the better the prices and the quality. So the best thing to do is make some snacks for the day and spend big for dinner.

A good tip is to have a heavy apéritif around about 6pm at the Piazza Santa Margarita. The custom is to have a Spritz, the typical alcoholic apéritif of reddish colour obtained from the mix of red wine with soda water. It’s very tasty, soft and cheap, and you’ll feel like another local celebrating this ritual.

A great idea for a cheap and cheerful dinner, more than in other places, is to go to Osteria Antico Dolo, located in an old brothel next to the Rialto Market. It has the best Venetian and Italian menus which can be enjoyed in a small dining room, family style. The menu and the prices can be consulted on http://www.anticodolo.it/, and you can even make a booking in advance so you ensure yourself a table and try its exquisite food.

If one of your obsessions in Venice is to take back a typical Venetian mask, don’t look for them in the mask shops because the prices are unreachable. The best thing to do is to look for them in souvenir shops and imitation markets, where you’ll find them just as beautiful as the original ones but at half the price.

Venice has 120 islands, all of them connected by bridges, many of them full of history such as the Ponte dei Sospiri, whose name comes from the sighs of the arrested ones who crossed it to go to prison. It’s close to St Marco Square and it links the Palazzo Ducale with the State Prisons.

But if you’re tired of crossing bridges, you can use this city’s peculiar transport. Despite the gondolas being the symbol of the city, beautiful and romantic, remember that it’s Venice’s most expensive transport, and that for 45 minutes you’ll have to pay close to 70 euros. If you want to have a romantic stroll in one with your partner at night, you’ll have to pay 80 euros.

We recommend that you use the Vaporetto, an aquatic bus which can take you to the islands of the lagoon of Venice for 6.50 euros. To decrease the spending in transport buy a Venice Card, which costs, if you’re between 18 and 24 years of age, 18 euros for 72 hours of transport.

Nancy Guzman

Autumn in apartments in Venice is lovely, so come and use these tips to fully enjoy it. You won’t regret it.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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Until the 13th of November, the Bevilacqua de la Masa Foundation exhibits ‘Essai (y). Giovani artisti diplomati all’Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia’ (Essai (y). Young artists of the Fine Arts Academy in Venice). The exhibition tries to put on the scene the work of a select group of artists winners of the Prize and the internship that the Bevilacqua de la Masa Foundation gives to young artists.

There are five artists, whose works are what make up this exhibition and who studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Venice: the Venetians Stefano Bullo and Giulia Filippi, the artist from Ferrara Nereo Marulli and Thomas Braida from Gorizia. The exhibition aims to show the route of each one of them, whose lines of work are a plastic polyphony which gives a panoramic outlook on contemporary art.

The Fine Arts Acadamy in Venice is popularly known as ‘The Academy’, expressing the importance that history of art has on a world scale. The origins take us back to the 18th century, more specifically to 1750, when the city determines that it needs to have a school of formation for painters and sculptors. It was the painter Giovanni Baptista Piazzetta who was in charge of giving shape and content to the project, and he settled into the Fondaco della Farina. From that moment, the School became the place which gathered works of art of great value and it became a symbol of art around the world, but it also was a place for formation and thinking of art and culture.

Thomas Braida, born in 1982, has painting at the Fine Arts Academy in Venice as his speciality, although he’s also worked in interesting sculpture proposals. In 2010 he carried out his first individual exhibition at the Galleria Traghetto di Venezia. He’s also made collective exhibitions in Verona, Art Stays 2011, the European Academies of Fine Arts exhibition in Ptuj, Slovenia, in 2011, the International Art Exhibition in Venice, the Venice Biennial of 2011 and he was selected in the 94th edition of the Young Artists Award by the Bevilacqua de la Masa Foundation.

Stefano Bullo was born in Venice in 1985. In February 2011 he graduated in painting from the Fine Arts Academy in Venice and he’s participated in various collective exhibitions. Bullo works painting with concepts which reflect society’s most immediate problems, such as communication, which despite the great technological advances like the Internet, the regular human being lives more and more isolated all the time. Because of that, his representations are isolated events, like a photograph with no context. Some have defined his painting as some sort of graphic painting.

Giulia Filippi was born in Venice in 1982. She graduated in painting at the Fine Arts Academy in Venice and she’s participated in various collective exhibitions and in the 15th Mediterranean Biennial, in Thessaloniki Greece, in 2011.

Nereo Marulli was born in Ferrara in 1985. He graduated in art and public space from the Fine Arts Academy in Venice and he’s exhibited in numerous collective exhibitions. Among them there’s Art, Science and School, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and ArteFiera, the contemporary art fair in Bologna.  In 2009 he exhibited in Threshold, Grad Vipolze, in Slovenia.

For more information: http://www.bevilacqualamasa.it/essai-y

Nancy Guzman

Now is a great time to think about renting apartments in Venice especially because with the calm that autumn brings you can enjoy the city in a more relaxed way, as well as its romantic corners and visiting exhibitions such as ‘Essai (y)’.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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There are plans and there are big plans. The one I put forward to you today is in the latter category. The fact that Venice merits two, three and more visits cannot be argued. Even if the exhibitions, the events, the theatre or the concerts in the City of the Canals had disappeared, the simple view of the place is enough to take someone’s breath away, even from the more refined ones. If we add to that the fact that not a day goes by without a classical music concert taking place in one of it’s baroque churches or variegated palaces, Venice is, today, not only a destination for art lovers but also for the most demanding music fans. For example, the opera offering is simply overwhelming.

The concerts that occupy us today take place in the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, the home of a medieval brotherhood of the order of the flagellants (let’s not go into depth about such obscene practice), which was dedicated to studying and education, as well as to the promotion of the arts. Although the origin of the brotherhood is from the 13th century, the building that has reached us – with modifications, restructuring and constructions – is essentially baroque. Profusely decorated with marble and beautiful wood, it treasures wonderful works of art and important relics, such as a piece of Christ’s Cross (let’s remind the reader that the biggest piece is located in Spain, in the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Llébana). The institution, today, is dedicated to the attention of the visitor, the teaching of music and the organization of magnificent opera concerts.

Specifically, these musical evenings are offered in the impressive room of San Giovanni who, probably, was the noble placement of the order, where the special meetings between the brothers took place. The place is literally jaw-dropping, and there isn’t a single inch that hasn’t been decorated: the ceiling is painted with frescos, the altarpiece (now the stage) is presided by a marble sculpture of the Virgin, which is flanked, as well as the walls, with paintings from past centuries, and even the floor shows a shining marble mosaic. In this aristocratic location, Italian opera stagings and recitals of the most famous arias take place. Until the 31st of December, with the Opera House Orchestra, you can enjoy a selection of different arias called ‘La Gran Gala dell’Opera’ (the Great Gala of Opera), with Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ or Puccini’s ‘La Tosca’. But what you can’t miss is the New Year’s Eve Concert, which takes place, obviously, on the 31st of December at 7.45pm. That is the proper way to say goodbye to 2011.

This short space isn’t enough to indicate the specific days and programme. That’s why we refer the reader to the webpage of the Scuola where, also, they can make bookings and get more information both of current concerts as the ones programmed for next year: http://www.scuolasangiovanni.it/index.php?page=21.

Candela Vizcaíno

With so many bookings, don’t forget the apartments in Venice because you have to rest your body and your soul.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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Each year with the Venice Biennale, the city comes alive with a number of new exhibitions, festivals and artistic proposals, while creating a very interesting framework of side events. This year, “World art in Venice” will open at Ca ‘Zanardi, a major exhibition that will display a relevant part of the Italian art scene. The opening will take place on the 7^th of October 7 at 18hrs, and the finissage will be on the 30^th of October at the same time.

This is a brief sample, offers contents that surely will be very interesting for those who want to have an idea of contemporary art production in Venice. The intention of the curator Fausto Brozzi, was to bring together very different languages and expressive forms from photography to painting, through design and literature, without proposing a common topic to the works, nor fixed formal connection, or a style. This “absence” gives the character to the sample, far from wanting to present a thesis of art, is intended to be a window showing the current situation in the world of Venetian art.

In the presentation of the exhibition to the press, a reporter asked the curator if this lack of a style, or a common theme of the works will not be an excuse to put together pieces that have nothing in common but the same exhibition space in which are gathered. In response, Brozzi cited a phrase from Man Ray saying “I photograph what I can not paint and I paint what I can not photograph “, and added: in this way, we can create non-existent from what we is surrounded us. This particular form of creation is evident and is able to have many ways of expression, as many eyes are watching.

Fausto Brozzi is a multifaceted celebrity: artist, curator, designer, art director and an expert in marketing and communication strategies. He is considered an expert of the global art market and lives and works in Europe, USA and China. In his career as an artist, he focused mainly on painting and photography, and today you find most of  his works in private collections worldwide.

Interestingly, for this exhibition, Brozzi did not want to display devoted a selection of works by famous artists in the scene, but he wanted to give emerging artists the chance to show their works too. That is why he  opened a website www.worldartinvenice.it, inviting all artists who wished to show their portfolios and, among the many proposals, he selected a group of 50 works.

The beautiful location Ca ‘Zanardi is located in Cannaregio 4123, and the exhibition will be open daily from 10 till 18hrs and will remain closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission is free.

menschauser

If you have not visited the Venice Biennale, we recommend you to rent apartments in Venice and come to enjoy of this cultural and artistic city, do not miss the exhibition “World art in Venice”.

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Translated by: Hans
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Each year with the Venice Biennale, the city comes alive with a number of new exhibitions, festivals and artistic proposals, while creating a very interesting framework of side events. This year, “World art in Venice” will open at Ca ‘Zanardi, a major exhibition that will display a relevant part of the Italian art scene. The opening will take place on the 7^th of October 7 at 18hrs, and the finissage will be on the 30^th of October at the same time.

This is a brief sample, offers contents that surely will be very interesting for those who want to have an idea of contemporary art production in Venice. The intention of the curator Fausto Brozzi, was to bring together very different languages and expressive forms from photography to painting, through design and literature, without proposing a common topic to the works, nor fixed formal connection, or a style. This “absence” gives the character to the sample, far from wanting to present a thesis of art, is intended to be a window showing the current situation in the world of Venetian art.

In the presentation of the exhibition to the press, a reporter asked the curator if this lack of a style, or a common theme of the works will not be an excuse to put together pieces that have nothing in common but the same exhibition space in which are gathered. In response, Brozzi cited a phrase from Man Ray saying “I photograph what I can not paint and I paint what I can not photograph “, and added: in this way, we can create non-existent from what we is surrounded us. This particular form of creation is evident and is able to have many ways of expression, as many eyes are watching.

Fausto Brozzi is a multifaceted celebrity: artist, curator, designer, art director and an expert in marketing and communication strategies. He is considered an expert of the global art market and lives and works in Europe, USA and China. In his career as an artist, he focused mainly on painting and photography, and today you find most of  his works in private collections worldwide.

Interestingly, for this exhibition, Brozzi did not want to display devoted a selection of works by famous artists in the scene, but he wanted to give emerging artists the chance to show their works too. That is why he  opened a website www.worldartinvenice.it, inviting all artists who wished to show their portfolios and, among the many proposals, he selected a group of 50 works.

The beautiful location Ca ‘Zanardi is located in Cannaregio 4123, and the exhibition will be open daily from 10 till 18hrs and will remain closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission is free.

menschauser

If you have not visited the Venice Biennale, we recommend you to rent apartments in Venice and come to enjoy of this cultural and artistic city, do not miss the exhibition “World art in Venice”.

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Translated by: Hans
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The ability of sculpture to capture the public has over years perhaps lessened somewhere, thanks to constantly updated new means of creation in art – giving the impression that sculpture has been cast to one side by other more modern media such as video, conceptual and minimal art, and painting which seems to always stay around in one manifestation or another. However, the history of sculpture makes us see the reality of the fact that it is without a doubt the predecessor of many other forms of art – and that its relation with architecture is an extremely close one. From the monoliths on the ancient temples, the interaction with three dimensional materials has always been present. The size of sculpture has always functioned as a way of making statements in public spaces, and to direct people down an unexpected emotional route.

When we think of sculpture we always think of Venus de Milo and of course David – that pursuit of creating the perfect human form; to want to create the possibility, and image of a body which is almost a divine experience to look at. It is without a doubt the ancient Greek sculpture which is the finest example of this – the making of the artist of the ideal proportions of a humanity which has never been “perfect.” The body then takes supreme importance in the birth of philosophy – things which had not been studied before. It was all about the best way to depict a certain muscle, and which materials to use in order to reach divine perfection.

Much other sculpture has been of great importance, particularly on a religious and military level – sculptures have served as a form of defense of different religions, and also to celebrate massacre, acts of war, the conquering of land, to name just a very few examples. References to god and the almighty have always gone hand in hand with the artistic rendering of beauty.

And with modernity and the avantgarde of course all of this was shaken up once again, with sculpture becoming something else entriely – an anarchic exercise, something which went against the system, which could be both invisible and conceptual, and used unconventional and non-classical materials like rubbish or even the flesh of real animals. Sculpture came to be a discipline which attempted to disarm and discuss contemporary morals, and actively question all kinds of politics. Open 14 presents the most recent of sculpture and contemporary installation in a space which seeks to identify a contrast the latest mediums of artistic expressions in the art market, drawing attention to the issues prevalent today. For more information visit the following web page: http://www.artecommunications.com/

Alexa Ray

Find apartments in Venice and enjoy one of the biggest sculpture and installation shows in Europe. And Venice is home to a whole host of brilliant museums and galleries for you to soak up during your stay – an unforgettable experience for anybody who loves art and culture.

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Translated by: Poppy
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A part of the Venice Biennale, the 55th International Festival of Contemporary Music is organised over two settings, designed especially for the expression of music and art; the Artesenal Piccolo Theater and the Theater alle Tese. The dates for the musical extravaganza takes places between the 24th of September and the 10th of October, and it is directed towards anybody who is a fan of new musical experiences.

The president of the 55th International Festival of Contemporary Music in Venice, Paolo Baratta has highlighted that this is a special part of the Bienale, because it unites the experiences of the great composers along with those of the young up and coming faces of music, representing the idea of transformation – hence the name of this, the 55th edition; Mutante.

This year the organization of the 55th International Festival of Contemporary Music at the Venice Bienale has promised to all those attending a real mutation of musical genres, as a representation of the contemporary changes in western culture, and a change in its traditions – the product of a number of changes in methods of creative processes, reflecting a more open approach, and an ever faster way of communicating it.

With this in mind, this year the festival jury will be awarding orchestra composer Peter Eötvös with the Gold Lion, in tribute to his illustrious career and extensive contribution to contemporar musicy. Peter Eötvös was born in Odorheiu Secuiesc, Transylvania in Hungary (now a part of Romania) in 1944. Composer and orchestra director, he has done some important and highly influencial musical work, which makes reference to the folkloric music of his home country, following in the footsteps paved out by Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály and other great Hungarian musicians of the 20th century.

Eötvös was for many years, a composition assistant, and the director of the works of composition made by German contemporary composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, who is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest musicians, and has contributed enormously to the development of electro-acoustic music, and serialised music. Stockhausen, who died in 2007, was a devoted and controversial political activist, and branded the September 11th attacks a “work of art.”

Eötvös has directed grand works of opera at the Milan Scala for over thirty years now, and has come to be considered one of few composers to have made a genuine impact on the practical and theoretical sides of music in the last 20 years. He has taken up the post of Director at the London Royal Opera House, and at the Brussels Monnaine Theater, amongst other achievements in the development of music throughout Europe.

For more information http://www.labiennale.org/it/musica/festival/festival.html

Nancy Guzman

This festival represents all the beauty and dynamics of human creation, bringing new sounds to feed the soul. This and much more will be on offer if you head down to the festivities in the Tese and Piccolo Theaters whilst spending a couple of days renting apartments in Venice

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Translated by: Poppy
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The exhibition will take place on September 8th until November 27th in the Palazzo Zenobio, located on Dorsoduro 2596 in Venice. During the inauguration, that will begin at midday and will last until 11pm, there will also be concerts, events and activities related with the subject of the exhibition. You’ll find more information on the official page: www.collegioarmeno.com

The artist Ewa Bathelier, born in Warsaw (Poland), graduated in medicine but decided to go for an artist career, starting in the 90s in France. Her work, mainly paintings, was exhibited in museums and galleries from around the world, and it belongs to important international collections. She also worked as a scenographer in plays by Beckett and Pinget that took place in Krakow. She was very interested in literature and is a member of a Polish poets project (‘Kwartainik artystczny’) which has had a lot of influence on her visual work.

Her work can be defined as minimalistic, but the strength of the colours and the texture of the paintings add a dramatic dimension to them, very communicative and brilliant. The dresses are one of the favourite subjects of the artist, who considers them a sort of self-portraits. For this reason she decided to elaborate this project with her friend and designer Denise Focil, to introduce a dimension of political thought and power from fashion and the focus on outside appearance.

Denise Focil is a designer born in Quito, Ecuador, and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her creations are very influenced by her passion for music and travelling and, for this reason, she incorporates visual codes of different cultures and a special attention to detail. She has dedicated herself, from a very young age, to clothes design for motorcyclists and found her success and international fame thanks to her passion for fashion and motorbikes. She established her company in Italy in 1963 and, from that time, her creations became very well-known, above all, among all motorbike lovers, especially her Alpinestars collection, designed entirely by her in 2009.

In this exhibition, Denise Focil puts her fashion knowledge to the service of art and creates, together with Ewa Bathelier, a series of seven dresses that try to mark the paces of the identity definition of women throughout the years. Quite a hard challenge then, and an exhibition that promises to go in depth into a subject that’s still a current matter.

menschauser

We recommend that you come to visit this unique exhibition. You can rent apartments in Venice and enjoy a stay among the canals and the art in one of Italy’s most beautiful cities.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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