photograph by Manfredi Bellati
VENICE

The Mercatino dei Miracoli, flea market. Just behind the early-Renaissance church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, which was built to house a miracle-working image of the Virgin and Child in the Campo Santa Maria Nova, there is the Mercatino dei Miracoli, flea market. This is the only flea and antique market held by non professionals in Venice. It is so much fun to rummage through the bric a brac, old books, prints, vintage clothes and lots of Murano glass. The next two markets are on 7/8th October and 9/10th December from 10 am to 6pm.

For more information call: Consiglio di Quartiere di San Marco tel. 0412710022

VENICE

Cocktail party for Patrick Bouchain on the Grand Canal. Vive la France, say the red, white and blue hand blown Murano glasses designed by Marie Bradolini for her company Laguna B. Contessa Brandolini gave a very chic and exclusive cocktail party on her roof terrace over looking the Grand Canal, in honor of her fellow Frenchman, architect, Patrick Bouchain. Bouchain's controversial, French Pavilion at the 10th Biennale of Architecture this year was the topic of conversation, "It is about the joy of occupation." he told, Nicolai Ouroussoff of The New York Times.

www.lagunab.com www.labiennale.org www.nytimes.com

VENICE - Giardini

10th Biennale of Architecture - French Pavilion. Outside the French Pavilion, whose installation is called Metacite Metavilla, Patrick Bouchain is being interviewed. His manifesto is entitled Le Pur Plaiser d'Exister (the pure pleasure of existing); involve as many people as possible, ensure that the various desires converge, allow yourself to be carried along, lead the overall project leaving no one aside, combine knowledge and materials, bring in the user before construction is completed, allow him to finish, transform, maintain and, in turn, pass things on. And, that is just what happened in the pavilion. It is occupied for the whole duration of the Biennale by the EXYZT group, it is not a staged performance but an architectural act aimed at establishing an unaccustomed type of operation. This system is not 'exhibited', though it does have a certain demonstrative, even educational component. The occupied pavilion is intended to be used. Participants are invited to stay there, not as mere visitors to an exhibition, but as users encouraged to use the site. The aim is for the French Pavilion to be an area where people can rest, have meals, work and exchange.

www.labiennale.org www.exyzt.org

VENICE - Giardini

10th Biennale of Architecture - British Pavilion. After a fun concert of the the Sheffield based rock-pop band, The Long Blondes and lots of beer, The British Pavilion was declared open. The exhibition called Echo City was developed under the leadership of Jeremy Till, it is an "urban register" describing Sheffield. There are four side rooms in the pavilion and they are designed so that each room reflects urban experience at a particular architectural and social scale; 1:1 Everything is more than a detail-1:100 A hundred everyday lives to one iconic architect-1:10,000 These are stories not streets-1:10,000,000 Here there and north of nowhere. Above is theTrish O'Shea and Ruth Ben-Tovim (Encounters) 1:1 room, it reflects the intimate scale of the three shop projects that they have been working on. "We didn't want to literally re create the shops or create an exhibition that was too far away from them either. Our exhibition contains traces, echos of the inner-city neighbuorhood of Sharrow shops; the stories, objects, journeys, animals that we collected, as well as, a new invitation to visitors to participate to leave their own trace. It was important for us that this invitation was at the heart of the exhibition and it will be interesting to see the response." They explain.

www.labiennale.org www.britishcouncil.org www.sharrowencounters.org.uk www.thelongblondes.co.uk

VENICE - Giardini

10th Biennale of Architecture - Japanese Pavilion. Please take off your shoes and enter the Japanese Pavilion for the exhibition, Architecture of Terunobu Fujimori and ROJO: Unkown Japanese Architecture and Cities. Two unique art movements are attracting attention in Japan recently. One is the architecture of Terunobu Fujimori and the other is the ROJO (railway observation). Fujimori's unusual architecture appeared suddenly in the midst of ordinary contemporary Japanese architecture, fifteen years ago. Fujimori's desire was to get as close as possible to the time when human beings first built the artificial structures called architecture. He did so by using natural materials and plants and rethinking the basic relationship between architecture and nature. This avant-gard looks to the past rather than the future. In the present, the age of science and technology, it might be considered a reckless venture with no hope of success. However, a bit of hope is being placed on the method of Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, The Method of Ledoux for Giving Reality to Images Through Illusion. Rojo Kansatssu means " roadway observation", walking the streets, noticing objects that people do not ordinarily notice, and recording them with a camera. In general members of the ROJO are interested in things that are diverted from their original purpose. You must not miss this poetic Pavilion.

www.labiennale.org

VENICE - Giardini
10th Biennale of Architecture - German Pavilion. The commissioners of the German Pavilion are Armand Gruentuch and Almut Ernst and the theme is Convertible City. On entering the German pavilion, visitors experience through large-scale images the scene of urban vitality and architectural variety. The city is staged as an inspiring field of possibilities. In contrast to the bustling main hall, the side wings offer a calm and inviting atmosphere for a more in-depth contemplation of the individual projects on display. These projects examine stimulating conversions in existing urban space situations, that enrich the dynamics and creativity of city life. They illustrate the exiting tensions that densification and transformation exert on architecture and the urban fabric, as well as, the sustainable use of the available potential of a vertically open periphery for new working and living environments.
www.labiennale.org www.convertiblecity.de

VENICE - Giardini

10th Biennale of Architecture - Austrian Pavilion. The commissioner of the Austrian Pavilion is Wolf D. Prix and the theme of the exhibitions is, The City shape, Is Space And Net. Gregor Eichinger calls his installation, in a temporary hut, Urbar (Primal Bar). Urbar is a space for a multitude of individual stories, here people experience freedom of the modern city, in consciously brief encounters. As Baudelaire said " The idler finds enjoyment in the fleeting and therefore in the infinite." The large table comprises the center of the room. Projected onto the table's surface are images illustrating relationships on varying scales. The table is an invitation extended to visitors to form a network.

www.labiennale.org

VENICE - Giardini

10th Biennale of Architecture - U.S. Pavilion. After The Flood: Building on Higher Ground is the name of the exhibition in the American Pavilion. It offers a range of architectural responses to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans last year. The show focuses on proposals for both multi-family and single-family housing, drawing from an international competition that the magazine, Architectural Record organized with Tulane University School of Architecture. Shown above and conceived by Anderson Anderson Architecture, The Alluvial Sponge Comb, is a simpatico installation which offers an experimental solution for flood protection. Made of flexible, superasbsorbent material, the multifinger sponge captures water to become a temporary flood barrier. This design is meant to harmonize with the natural ebb and flow of water, rather than resist it.

www.labiennale.org http://archrecord.construction.com www.andersonanderson.com www.tulane.edu

VENICE - Giardini

10th Biennale of Architecture. The book From Fiorucci to the Guerrilla Stores by Claudio Marenco Mores, published by Marsilio Editori and Fondazione Pitti Discovery was launched at the Biennale during the press days. It focuses on 30 years of architecture for fashion and communication strategies. The book spans the period from Elio Fiorucci (in the photo with Pitti's CEO Raffaello Napoleone) to Rei Kawakubo via Calvin Klein and Giorgio Armani, learning the Japanese lessons and overturning communications logic with Prada. Today fashion and architecture are essential components of the culture industry, while the boundaries between art and consumerism are fading away and are becoming more and more difficult to identify. What more can fashion do to architecture?

www.labiennale.org www.pittimmagine.com www.marsilioeditori.it www.giorgioarmani.com www.prada.com www.calvinklein.com

VENICE - Giardini

10th Biennale of Architecture - Italian Pavilion. Cities, architecture and society is the theme of the 10th International Architecture Exhibition, which is curated by Richard Burdett. The Italian Pavilion is transformed into a window on the state-of-the-art of urban research in cities. Thirteen international research institutions display projects and ideas on cities, reflecting the current re-engagement of the architectural profession with social and economic processes. The central space of the pavilion is dedicated to an exhibition of city photographs curated by C-Photo Magazine, providing a historic panorama of how cities have captured the imagination of photographers and artists around the globe for over a century. The photograph above is by Chinese photographer, Wang Qingsong, entitled, Dormitory, light jet print 2005.

www.labiennale.org www.ivorypress.com

VENICE - Giardini

10th Biennale of Architecture. Nigel Coates is head of the architectural department at the Royal College of Art in London, he is also the curator of the exhibition Babylon:Don which is being shown in the Italian Pavilion. While we were waiting, for the The Long Blondes concert outside the British Pavilion, he told me about the Babylon:Don exhibition "We tried to look at London from the gutter not from the air. And, we are trying to demonstrate how the city, which is over revolved, too rich can deal with it's future. It is so layered, so multicultural that it could fall apart in two minutes."

www.labiennale.org. www.rca.ac.uk www.bransoncoates.com

VENICE - Giardini

10th Biennale of Architecture - Italian Pavilion. The Royal College of Art Architecture deptment's contribution to this year's Biennale with the theme Cities, Architecture and Society (curated by Biennale Director Richard Burdett) is an interesting exhibition of fifteen projects called Babylon:Don and is curated by Nigel Coates. As one of the most cosmopolitan cities anywhere, London is transforming into Europe's only ubercity; it is now a place that belongs to the world and no longer just to Britain. Though it offers high rewards for an infinite variety of aspirations, its multi-culture is showing serious signs of strain. Is the role of architecture to help pull a disparate city together or to accentuate its differences? The coordinated selection of projects reflect on these broad issues for London. Rather than solutions, they are intended as critiques or 'mightlihoods'. The show features architectural consequences of current tendencies such as the ecstatic city, the city as brand environment, idiocy as modernist critique, the cross-over of underworld and overworld, and sustainable futures with a selfish edge. Shown above is Nicola's Koller's project called, This Sceptered Isle.

www.labiennale.org. www.rca.ac.uk

VENICE

The Missoni Party for the movie "Nuovomondo". Charlotte Gainsbourg, the star of the movie, Nuovomondo (Golden Door) directed by Emanuele Crialese, arrives at San Giorgio Island to board the Missoni barge "Timoteo" for the party. Nuovomondo, an Italian film, won the Silver Lion award at the Venice Film Festival. The film tells the story of Italian immigration through a Sicilian family at the beginning of the last century. Charlotte is working on her next film which is called I'm not There, directed by Tod Haynes. And, her mother, Jane Birkin has just finished directing a film on her own life, called Boxes. Happy viewing!

www.missoni.com www.labiennale.org

VENICE

The Missoni party for the movie "Nuovomondo". Fashion designer, Angela Missoni's youngest daughter, Teresa is just as beautiful as her sister Margherita. Teresa is studying languages at school and was in Venice for the Film Festival and also for the party hosted by Angela and Vittorio Missoni for the cast of the film Nuovomondo (Golden Door), directed by Emanuele Crialese. The party was held onboard the "Timoteo", the last surviving Venetian transport barge. The barge was built in 1904 and found by Tai and Rosita Missoni in the 1980's, it took three renovations to bring it to it's former splendor. Nearby Giuliana Camerino's yacht "Giada" was anchored, as well as, Alberta Ferretti's boat "Prometej", whilst further out in the lagoon, and rather tricky to reach, Valentino's yacht "T.M. Blue One". A Venetian floating fashion party n'est pas?

www.missoni.com www.labiennale.com www.robertadicamerino.com www.albertaferretti.com www.valentino.it

VENICE

VizioVirtu Cioccolateria. No these are not architectural models or installations, but the best chocolates you can buy in Venice. VizioVirtu Cioccolateria, which translate as vice/virtue, is just off Campo San Toma, towards the Accademia. The owner, Mariangela Penzo hand-makes the chocolates right there in front of your eyes in the shop/laboratory, so when you enter you are greeted with a delicate aroma. Mariangela, convinced supporter of traditional handcrafts finds the need to spread this real "good chocolate" culture. She blends genuine ingredients and tradition with modern awareness in exclusive recipes. And, the exquisite creations are inspired by the shapes and magical, picturesque Venetian surroundings. They are also the perfect gift for the sweet tooth and the chocoholics.

www.viziovirtu.com

VENICE

Palazzo Grassi - Gucci Group Award 2006. The selection committee for the first Gucci Group Award was composed of some leading creative personalities, including the bold and unpredictable fashion designer, Alexander McQueen, political activist and humanitarian Moby and award winning international actor, Jeremy Irons photographed above with mathematician, Sarah Laraki and chocolate entrepreneur Hermann Buhlbecker. "I have been on a jury before in Cannes and I spent a nice day and a half in LA watching all the films and I'm very happy that Nick Cave won." Irons said. Jeremy Irons was recently awarded an Emmy for best supporting actor in Elisabeth I. And, Helen Mirren got an Emmy award for best actress in Elisabeth I, she also won the best actress award at The Venice Film Festival for her portrayal of Queen Elisabeth II in The Queen directed by Stephen Frears. Dame Helen is the only actress to play both Queen Elisabeth I and Queen Elisabeth II and be awarded for both performances.

www.palazzograssi.it www.guccigroup.com www.labiennale.org www.emmys.org www.lambertz.de

VENICE

Palazzo Grassi - Gucci Group Award 2006. The Australian rock musician, Nicholas Edward Cave, photographed here with his beautiful green eyed wife Susie, won the first Gucci Group Award for screenwriting the film, The Proposition directed by John Hillcoat. Nick is very talented, he is also a songwriter, author and occasional actor. He is best known for his work in the rock and roll band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The Gucci Group prize will be awarded every year during The Venice Film Festival to an artist who has made a remarkable contribution to a film in any capacity, whether in the role of the film's director, actor, screenwriter, set or costume designer. Gucci Group president and CEO, Robert Polet commented "Gucci loves supporting the arts, for we well know the profound effect that the arts have on our creativity and in enriching our lives."

www.palazzograssi.it www.guccigroup.com www.labiennale.org www.nickcaveandthebadseeds.com

VENICE

Palazzo Grassi - Gucci Group Award 2006. Former newscaster and journalist, now Euro-parliamentarian, Lilli Gruber arrives with the president of the Fondazione Gruppo Coin, Piergiorgio Coin and his wife Franca for the first Gucci Group Award at Palazzo Grassi. Lilli, is in Venice to promote her new Book, America Anno Zero (America year zero- Rizzoli). Franca Coin, who is also president of The Venice International Foundation said "I'm very Happy, and it is also important that Gucci has started this new tradition, hopefully it will revitalize The Venice Film Festival." The prize will be given to an internationally acclaimed artist whose achievements, until now, have been accomplished in areas other than cinema, but whose leap into the world of film has been an auspicious one.

www.guccigroup.com www.palazzograssi.it www.venicefoundation.org www.labiennale.org. www.rcsmediagroup.it

VENICE - Arsenale

10th Biennale of Architecture - China Pavilion - Giardino delle Vergini. This poetic installation is called Tile Garden: a Dialogue Beyond City, Between an Architect and an Artist and is curated by Wang Mingxiam. Behind the Tile Garden is a five year-long dialogue and cooperation between architect, Wang Shu and artist, Xu Jiang. Their unique thinking idea of; how to re-establish site texture with vernacular resources; how to apply the tradition of co-existing nature and buildings in today's reality; how to deal with large-scale demolition and reconstruction, unique in Chinese cities, and to return to the tradition of recycling and reconstruction. Their communication of ideas and spirit is presented in this installation, an environment that connects landscape and inner soul. More than 60000 pieces of old southern Chinese blue tile expands into a giant surface of tiles. When walking above on the bamboo bridge, the experience is like walking on the roof and facing the garden looking back to nature. Perhaps nostalgia will arise in your heart, a sentiment of city and your cultural origin, a nostalgia that crosses all land and goes beyond cities and boundaries. This is my favorite pavilion. The Chinese also won the Golden Lion award for best film at The Venice Film Festival with Still Life directed by Jia Zhang-Ke.

www.labiennale.org

photograph courtesy La Biennale press office
VENICE - Arsenale

10th Biennale of Architecture - Le Fonderie. One of the most dynamic real estate companies in Italy, Risanamento, whose activities are centered on large-scale development projects, participates at the Biennale with the exhibition Renzo Piano and Norman Foster - Cities within the City. Build Today the Milan of the Future. The exhibition illustrates the projects of these two mega star architects. Renzo Piano, on the disused industrial estate of the former Falck steelworks in Sesto San Giovanni, has designed a new city, set in a park of over a million square meters, in a harmonious balance between industrial archaeology and futuristic towers suspended in the greenery. In Piano's project, quality of life, environmental sustainability and optimal quality and transport will produce a new concept of contemporary living. Milano Santa Giulia, south east of Milan, whose design was commissioned to Norman Foster (pictured above) will represent a true "city within the city". It is the result of careful research on the evolution of the contemporary man's spiritual and material requirements. It will comprise high-quality residential buildings, tertiary and commercial facilities and services. The objective is to apply design and architecture to the aim of improving the quality of life and community living in the modern metropolis.

www.labiennale.org www.risanamentospa.it www.rpbw.com www.fosterandpartners.com

VENICE - Arsenale
10th Biennale of Architecture - Artiglierie. The exhibition, Metro-polis or The Rail Transport Challenge in Naples and Campania is curated by Alessandro Mendini and Benedetto Gravagnuolo. The new stations projects involve the urban web where the city scenes are redesigned in relation to the new interventions determinating the quality of a new lifestyle in the mega-city where the new built-up areas are taken up by the constant flow of this new mobility. In each station there will also be art installations curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, these will generate a sort of distributed museum of contemporary art, open to all citizens. Shown above is Richard Rogers's model for the Capodichino Airport. The Lord Rogers of Riverside, was presented by Renzo Piano, with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement award. Rogers has a distinguished career as an architect and is responsible for some of the most iconic buildings of the last twenty-five years, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris (with Renzo Piano) and Lloyd's of London. Rogers said "I am passionate about cities. They are the most complex of artifacts and many are in great need of revitalization."
www.biennale.org. www.ateliermendini.it www.achillebonitoliva.com www.richardrogers.co.uk www.rpbw.com www.centrepompidou.fr www.lloyds.com

VENICE - arsenale

10th Biennale of Architecture - Le Corderie. At the Cities, Architecture and Society exhibition I bumped into Mario Bellini who was thrilled with the show "This year for the first time the Biennale 'talks' about cities, from which emerges a big problem, it's a serious warning bell." Bellini is designing the Islamic extension at the Louvre Museum in Paris, due to open in 2009. "It is like an iridescent scarf or a big sail, it is very emotional technologically ." he added.

www.labiennale.org www.bellini.it www.louvre.fr

VENICE - Arsenale

10th Biennale of Architecture - Le Corderie. Cities, Architecture and Society, the exhibition curated by Richard Burdett and beautifully designed by Cibic&Partners analyses the urban experiences of sixteen world cities in four different continents. It provides an overview of scale, location and form of these cities and city-regions. Satellite images, aerial views and figure-ground drawings illustrate the diversity, dynamism and complexity of the human footprint alongside statistics on population and size. Together they constitute the physical and social backdrop for the city experiences and urban projects described in the individual 'city rooms' ordered by continent. Shown above are the Density stalagmite models of the sixteen cities.

www.labiennale.org

VENICE - Arsenale

10th Biennale of Architecture - Le Corderie. Visiting the exhibition, Cities, Architecture and Society, in the Corderie dell'Arsenale, on the left, the leader of the Senate, Fausto Bertinotti is given a private tour by it's curator Richard Burdett. The Theme of the 10th International Architectural Exhibition is dedicated to cities, global urbanization, and to the architecture that can determine the cities' governance and transformations, the deep changes and the development of a harmonious social fabric. For the first time Venice's Biennale focuses its attention on the tangible concerns arising in contemporary society, investigating models of interaction between cities, architecture and it's inhabitants. Asked what was his idea of an ideal city, Mr Bertinotti replied "My ideal city of the future would be a place where men and women of different ethnic cultures can enrich their lives, side by side."

www.labiennale.org

VENICE - Arsenale

10th Biennale of Architecture - The Italian Pavilion. At last, Italy has it's own pavilion, but it's not in the Giardini where all the other countries have theirs, it's at the Arsenale. Let me specify, there is an Italian Pavilion in the giardini, but it is used as a pot-pourri showcase. The New Italian Pavilion's exhibition, curated by Franco Purini, is called The New City. Italia-y-2026. Invitation to Vema. Vema is an ideal city with streets leading towards the future of Italian architecture. Situated between VErona and MAntova, this is a city that is feasible, testing the planning talents of twenty young architects and emerging architectural groups. On show are plastic models and a gigantic model of the city summarizing and presenting a possible hypothesis of Italy in twenty years. I bumped into Alessandro Mendini on the vaporetto home and we both had exactly the same impression of the new Italian Pavilion, in Mendini's words "It looks just like a private loft for two people."

www.labiennale.org www.ateliermendini.it

VENICE- The Granaries of The Hotel Cipriani

Gipsy Biennale of Architecture. The exhibition, Gipsy Biennale of Architecture (until September 21st and then in Vienna at the Atelier Faerbergasse from November 22 to January 7th 2007), is also the travel log of Venetian, journalist and photographer, Manfred Manera, who was given the title of gipsy ambassador by the gipsy emperor of Romania. The photographic exhibition is accompanied by a video and by a collection of textiles and carpets which originated from the road covered by the gypsies to arrive in Romania from India. The interesting architecture of the Rom is spontaneous, without the canons of a proper project and its peculiar characteristic is of being unfinished, as if the Rom People, although they have settled down, still can't escape their nomadic inclinations. The improvised buildings have sprung up all over the Rumanian countryside. They often resemble castles, temples and luxury villas and are, in fact, constant works in progress, because of the poor quality of the materials, the gap between the initial idea, and the capacity to accomplish it or because of the whims of the builder, suddenly infatuated by a new model of turret, balcony or window. Manfred hopes that "This show will give a small contribution to a more in depth knowledge of the Rom People who are too often object of romantic idealization or unfortunately, and even more frequently, victims of ancestral negative prejudices."

manfredmanera@libero.it

VENICE

Ca Tron - Bollywood in Venice. Alongside The Venice Film Festival the Bollywood in Venice exhibition at Ca Tron, until September 22nd, chronicles the evolution of the Hindi Cinema through the last seventy-five years. It uses a mix of informative panels, old film posters and hand-made billboard paintings by traditional hoarding artists in an engaging style. Next to these, Giuliana Camerino presents, as a tribute to India, her original trompe l'oeil toiles for the Roberta di Camerino collection of dresses, designed in the 1960's, inspired by the drapery of the Indian sari.

www.robertadicamerino.com info@sitaaray.com www.bollywood.com

VENICE

Ca Tron - Bollywood in Venice. Lively and stylish, Venetian, octogenarian, Giuliana Camerino started designing her fashion brand, Roberta di Camerino fifty years ago. It all started with a bag, almost by chance, followed by others, in a kaleidoscope of forms, colors and materials. In fact, she was the first designer to attribute a key role to accessories in a woman's wardrobe. Her creations feature the inborn style and class she conveys to all her work, united with a remarkable sense of color and a predilection for fine materials. Giuliana was the first to have a "logo", when nobody else did them, and she was the second only after Elsa Schiaparelli to do trompe l'oeil. In Fact she is showing her trompe l'oeil toiles inspired by Indian sari's next to original Bollywood film posters, in the exhibition Bollywood in Venice (until September 22nd) at Palazzo Tron. "They are a tribute to India. I wanted to translate the elegant pleats of the saris, I love so much, into occidental dresses."

www.robertadicamerino.com info@sitaaray.com

VENICE

Good luck pepperoncino bouquets. One of the food stalls on the Rialto bridge sells these good luck pepperoncino (red hot chili pepper) bouquets. As just under half of the Italians believe in the evil eye these are the perfect gift. In fact, Venetian book publisher, Alessandro Tusset bought his fiancee Alessandra one to carry on their wedding day. He had the bouquet rearranged and intersected with Lily of the Valley, Alessandro told me that "The bouquet was very original and much admired and the best part is that we are still using the red hot chili peppers today." Alessandro's publishing house is called Elzeviro, and his latest book on Venice is called Vita Veneziana (Venetian Life) by William Dean Howells who was the first American Consul in Venice in the mid nineteenth century.

L'Oasi - San Polo 610 - Rialto www.elzeviro.com

VENICE

Naranzaria - wine bar in Rialto. What could be nicer than to eat or sip an aperitif while you watch the boats go by on the Grand Canal? For centuries Venice was the gateway to the Orient, a point of exchange between East and West. Rialto was the centre of this magnificent city, a meeting point of aromas, flavors, people and cultures. The name Naranzaria comes from the ancient warehouse where citrus fruits were stored. Now in the same location and with the same name is a tiny tiny restaurant or osteria where you can enjoy the exotic flavors of sushi, the Mediterranean freshness of couscous, and the typical flavors of the hinterland of the Serene republic such as the salami from Friuli and the wines of the Veneto. We particularly recommend Count Brandino Brandolini d'Adda's Vistorta wines, a sushi dish as a starter (made with the freshest fish, as the fish market is just next door) and then the very Venetian dish of Polenta and Baccala Mantecato.
www.naranzaria.it www.vistorta.it Naranzaria - San Polo 130 - tel: +39 041 72 41 035

photograph courtesy peggy guggenheim collection
VENICE

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Though we went to the Guggenheim for the preview of the VetriEtereiEterocliti, three beautiful works in glass, by Luigi Ontani and the party on the roof terrace with the stunning view of the Grand Canal, it was the Lucio Fontana Venice/New York exhibition (until September 24th and then at the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum, NYC from October 10th to January 21st, 2007) that I fell in love with. The exhibition is magnificent, it presents Fontana's series of Venice paintings and New York metals of the early 1960s, shown together for the first time. The exhibition is conceived and curated by Luca Massimo Barbero. The Venice series is remarkable for its thickly layered paint, often punctured or cut, with glass inserts. Fontana worked the surfaces with swirling gestures that allude to the Baroque whirls of Venetian churches, to the mosaics of San Marco, or in general to the Byzantine splendors of the city. Whereas, the New York series consists of large sheets of shiny and scratched copper, pierced and gouged, cut through by dramatic vertical gestures that simulate the force of skyscrapers, their metal and glass constructions. This is a show not to be missed. Shown above: "Concetto spaziale, At Dawn Venice was All Silver", 1961, Oil and glass on canvas.

www.guggenheim-venice.it www.guggenheim.org

VENICE - Lido

Palazzo del Cinema. A standing ovation for Emilio Estevez, at The 63rd Venice Film Festival, he wrote, directed and acted in the film Bobby. Since Emilio was five years old and met Bobby Kennedy while he was sitting on his father's, Martin Sheen's, shoulders he has had a fascination with Robert Kennedy. He told me that if Kennedy hadn't been shot... it's one of "The famous What If's...of our time.". The movie is about the loss. It is the story of the assassination of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, on June 6th, 1968, which centers around 22 people who were at the Ambassador Hotel where he was killed. The movie has an exceptional cast; Lindsay Lohan, Elijah Wood, Emilio Estevez, Harry Belafonte, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Martin Sheen, Christian Slater, Ashton Kutcher and award winning performances by Sharon Stone and Demi Moore. The movie will be released just in time for the Oscar nominations, and I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't take home a few. Estevez's next film will be called Johnny Long Shot. It is an action packed and exciting story about a family and harness racing. Asked if any member of his family will be in the film, Emilio replied "No, they have done working with me, because I never pay them."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Estevez www.labiennale.org

VENICE

The Missoni Party for the movie "Bobby". The face of Missoni, Margherita Maccapani Missoni takes some acting advice from actor, Christian Slater. Slater is probably known as the most badly behaved American actor and has a well tabloid-reported personal life. In the film Bobby he plays the disagreeable Timmons who is in charge of the hotel's restaurant and catering department, and makes no secret of his dislike of the African-Americans and Latinos under his employ. He is currently working with Gena Rowlands in Slipstream which is written, directed and acted by Anthony Hopkins. Margherita is studying acting at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York. She would like to play the exotic and beautiful, Tina Modotti in a movie. Modotti was a fine-arts photographer, model and silent film actress. She often published her photos in left wing and Communist papers. Her epitaph was composed by the poet, Pablo Neruda.

www.missoni.com www.christian-slater.com www.newyork-strasberg.com www.modotti.com

VENICE

The Missoni Party for the movie "Bobby". Fashion designer and hostess, Angela Missoni poses with actress, Svetlana Metkina. In the movie Bobby, Svetlana plays the part of a journalist from a communist country trying to interview Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Svetlana is married to Bold Films producer, Michael Litwak. Bold films has produced two films ready to be released in November, Bobby and Come Early Morning, written and directed by Joey Lauren Adams with Ashley Judd.

www.missoni.com www.boldfilms.com

VENICE

The Missoni Party for the movie "Bobby". Angela and Vittorio Missoni hosted a cocktail party before the screening of Bobby on board the Missoni's Venetian barge, Timoteo, built at the beginning of the last century, which was moored on the Island of San Giorgio. Bobby, written, directed and acted by Emilo Estevez, tells the story of twenty-two people who become unwitting participants in the tragic last night of Senator Robert F. Kennedy's life. Francesco and Margherita Maccapani Missoni stand next to uncle Vittorio with actress, Lindsay Lohan and stylist, Rachel Zoe. Lindsay brilliantly plays the role of woman who marries her best friend in order to save him from going to Vietnam. And, don't all the girls look glamorous in their Missonis?

www.missoni.com

VENICE

Welcome to MY VENICE SUPERBLOG, there is so much information in this blog that it is nearly as big as this monster of a cruise ship, that goes by the name of Norwegian Jewel and accommodates 2,376 passengers! Featured you will find photographs and text on Fashion and film stars, The Venice Film Festival, shopping, parties, art, a flea market, a restaurant and unprofessional highlights from The 10th Architectural Biennale (September 10th-November 19th). This is my third blog on The Biennale - see archives: Sept. 2004 and June 2005 - and I guess it is recognition when The Architecture Foundation and The Museum of Modern Art's Department of Architecture and Design present a Venice SuperBlog. Thank you. Below is their link, which will be online until the end of the Biennale. Enjoy both blogs.

www.7blueseas.com www.venicesuperblog.net