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