REGATA DELLE BEFANE
Venezia e i Turchi - 6 gennaio 2015 Ateneo Veneto
Reading di Alberto Toso Fei - Performance artistica di Elena Tagliapietra
Musiche e performance musicale dal vivo di Mattia Corso
Da oltre trent’anni si svolge in Canal Grande la Regata della Befana ad opera dei vecchi soci della Bucintoro, la più antica società di canottaggio della città, che per l’occasione si vestono da “befane”. In alcune località della laguna e nelle campagne del triveneto l’usanza in questo giorno è realizzare dei falò dove si brucia la vècia/vecchia, che nella lingua veneta è chiamata Maràntega. Ma nell’occasione si parlerà anche della storia dell’Ateneo Veneto, la più antica istituzione culturale veneziana in attività, e il ruolo che ebbe nel 1848, in occasione dei moti rivoluzionari, e dei rapporti tra Venezia e i Turchi, così importanti e fitti nel corso dei secoli, al punto da dare vita a numerose leggende “turchesche” che ancora oggi abitano tra le calli della città.
Volantino Venezia e i Turchi 06.01.2015
English Press release
VENICE AND THE TURKS
10th performance of the project Venice Revealed for the Befana Regatta: Venice and the Turks
Ateneo Veneto, Venice
Free admission, January 6th 2015 . From 5.00 pm videos of previous performances; From 6.00 pm art, live music and reading performance
It will be the beautiful Ateneo Veneto, the historic place that will host the 10th performance of the project Venice Revealed, created by the writer Alberto Toso Fei and the artist Elena Tagliapietra. The performance, which will reveal, among other, hidden stories about Venice and the Turks, will take place on Tuesday, 6th January, during the Befane Regatta, and will be realized in collaboration with Ateneo Veneto.
Alberto Toso Fei will tell us how takes place the Regatta of the Epiphany in the Grand Canal for over thirty years, by the old members of the Bucintoro (the oldest rowing club in the city) which for the occasion dress from “befane” (Befana is an old woman who brings sweets and coal to children). He will also speak about the custom, in some parts of the laguna and in the rural triveneto, to build bonfires to burn the vècia (old woman), called Maràntega in the Venetian language. It will be also the occasion to remember the history of the Ateneo Veneto, the oldest venetian cultural institution, and the role it had in 1848, during the revolutionary movements and relations between Venice and the Turks, that gave rise to numerous “turchesche” legends still living in the streets of the city.
As usual, all the stories will be presented together with the performance of Elena Tagliapietra who will create a pictorial composition on the body of a young dancer, inspired by the stories told simultaneously by Toso Fei. During this performance the official musician of the project, Mattia Corso, will be performing live on bass playing some of his pieces.
This 10th event, one of the last of the whole project Venice Revealed, opens the third and final consecutive year of appointments having as main subject Venice and its traditions.
Venice Revealed wants to remind the deep customs of the city during the main holidays, in occasion of Redentore (Pescheria di Rialto, Venice and the Plague), and the Historical Regatta (Squero of San Trovaso, Venice and Gondola), Festa di San Martino (Forte Marghera, Venice and Horses), the famous Carnevale (Telecom Future Centre, Venice and Carnival); for Natali di Venezia (Gran Teatro La Fenice, The Birth of Venice), for Festa del Bocolo (Piazza San Marco, A Rose for Venice), the Festa della Sensa (Venice Arsenale, Venice and the Sea), during the 71st Exhibition of Cinema (Blue Moon, Venice and the Cinema) and the Burano Regatta (Burano, Venice and its islands).
The project Venice Revealed is produced in collaboration with Vela spa, and with the organizational support of 2erre Organizzazioni, and with the patronage of the Culture Department of the City of Venice. It will present, over the next months, the last three artistic and literary performances scheduled across the calendar on the most important holidays in Venice. Next event, “Venice and the Mask” will be presented during the Carnival, February 5th, 2015 at the Auditorium Santa Margherita. www.veneziarivelata.it
