Open Atelier workshop and session at Art Biennale in Venice / day 02 / GETTING STARTED

The kick-off of the operative sessions was given by Mara Cerri and Angelo Loy, the artists recruited by AMAT to facilitate the activities at the core of the workshop. They started by presenting their work, and by introducing the methods they decided to share with the participants.

Mara Cerri was asked to lead them in the co-creative reinterpretation of the assigned heritage, ensuing from a process based on the graphic manipulation of a selection of representative images. Angelo Loy was given the task to support the groups in designing and producing the presentation of their work through a short video.

Participants were organized into five groups, each one engaging with a specific type of heritage, consisting in a selection of topics and pieces from the collection of the four Open Atelier museums, and one additional task related to Venice cultural heritage.

The assigned topics were presented directly from the voice of each museum’s representatives. Ana Porok and Maja Kovač introduced the heritage themes and challenges related to Plečnik’s House, AlmaDís Kristinsdóttir and Þóra Sigurbjörnsdóttir outlined those related to Einar Jónsson Museum, Thérèse Dyhlén and Evelina Berglund illustrated those related to Millesgården, and Lisette Vind Ebbesen presented those related to Art Museums of Skagen. The fifth topic, revolving around the postcards offering a special representation (and construction) of Venice heritage, was presented by the members from Politecnico di Milano.

After the presentations, each group interacted with the representatives from each museum, to become fully acquainted with the specific context, to share doubts and ideas, and to debate about potential strategies to be developed.

The intense sessions of the second day provided the participants with a wealthy body of knowledge and tools, that set the framework for the development of the subsequent working sessions.

The day was concluded with a social dinner at the Open Atelier’s Place, that was rounded off with a “Secret Venice Story” by Anna Marie Fisker.