Inaugurato nel 2022, il progetto Vela d’Artista nasce con l’intento di creare un ponte tra Biennale Arte e Biennale Cinema e connettere il mondo dell’arte contemporanea ai temi della sostenibilità ambientale, dell’inclusione sociale e dei diritti umani.
L’invito agli artisti consiste nel concepire un’opera in forma di vela per l’imbarcazione storica Edipo Re; un’opera originale e dal forte valore simbolico.
La Vela diventa così il vessillo del manifesto etico di Edipo Re, e si fa testimone, anno dopo anno, dell’arte come gesto di impegno civile che unisce e permette di creare valore all’interno del contesto in cui prende vita. In questo senso, Edipo Re diviene spazio creativo ed espositivo configurandosi come un vero e proprio padiglione itinerante, un’isola nel cuore della laguna.
Artist’s Sail | First Edition
La Vela di Isgrò by EMILIO ISGRÒ
n 2022, the Artist’s Sail project involved the artist Emilio Isgrò, who, thanks to the collaboration of The Venice Venice Hotel, created a new work dedicated to the centenary of the birth of the multifaceted and controversial intellectual Pier Paolo Pasolini, one of the founding fathers of the same vessel.
The Artwork
On the sail, Isgrò’s traditional “cancellations” run across the page of Pasolini’s Edipo Re, the boat dear to him bearing his name, leaving only two words in Greek highlighted: Oedipus Tyrant.
The words of Edipo Re remind us of the origin of tragedy and nail us to that vague and poignant memory. From the canceled words and from the sail, the hope brought by the wind and the mindful life that belongs to us is reborn.
Artist’s Sail | Second Edition
Vela d’Artista [Artist’s Sail] | Second Edition
Taking up the legacy of the Vela d’Artista project, which involves the design and creation of a sail for Edipo Re by contemporary artists capable of interweaving values such as environmental sustainability and social inclusion, is Atelier dell’Errore (AdE), an artistic collective dedicated to visual arts and performance. Founded by artist Luca Santiago Mora, AdE consists of 10 young neurodivergent artists and is permanently hosted in the spaces of the Maramotti Collection in Reggio Emilia.
“AdE_Vela_Rapido” will be officially inaugurated in conjunction with the opening of the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia “Foreigners Everywhere”, centered on the concept of “otherness”. Subsequently, the historical boat will become an itinerant pavilion in the heart of the Venice Lagoon throughout the spring and summer of 2024, until it docks at the Venice Film Festival between late August and early September.
The Artwork
For the 2nd edition of the Vela d’Artista project, Atelier dell’Errore (AdE), whose artistic language teems with beyond-zoological figures, ancestral creatures, and organisms has created “AdE_Vela_Rapido,” a randa sail measuring 10m x 5m that echoes the previous lives of Edipo Re: from a humble ‘Rapido’ fishing boat, the vessel completed more noble tasks, rescuing hundreds of Istrian refugees.
In this narrative, AdE finds inspiration to create a sail in which the drawing becomes the structure of the sail itself, while also creating a deeply symbolic allegory of a possible future. What is hidden and preserved within this constellation of organic vessels leaves an open interpretation.