Fourth appointment of the new cycle of itinerant conversations "Venice as a model for the future?".

With the title "The lagoon / has the moon / between its legs / playing ball" (after a poem by Etel Adnan, from her book From A to Z, Post-Apollo Press, 1982), this series intends to explore how humans and more than humans co-exist in Venice and its lagoon after dark, when the wave of daily visitors leaves the city, nocturnal birds start to sing, beacons are switched on some boats to catch mullet and cuttlefish, and the moon dictates the movement of tides.

"Wading Breath" is a performative sound walk on Isola La Certosa, Venice. Reflecting on the fragility of the salt marsh, its inhabitants and stored memory, it connects our own breathing, diaphragm and voice to unheard acoustics beneath the surface.

By listening to recorded sounds of photosynthesis, fish songs, crabs and undefined signals from the lagoon, you are invited to engage with underwater life and reflect on the connections between much larger paradoxes present in similar vulnerable lowlands around the world.

"Wading Breath" seeks for wading, walking or standing in shallow water without shoes or socks; and to breathe with, the act of taking air into the lungs and sending it out; to form acoustic kin with underwater creatures and approaching organic matter through sound.

Rahel Kraft's performance "Wading Breath" was conceived during a research residency offered by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia at Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi in April 2022. During these residencies, cultural practitioners from Switzerland have the opportunity to foster meaningful and long-term relations with the communities of Venice through artistic practice

Meeting point: Ocean Space at 7:30pm or imbarcadero Certosa at 8:30pm.

Scheduled return with vaporetto 5.1 at 9:43pm.

During the walk, we may enter the water and get our feet wet, so we recommend bringing a towel or suitable footwear. We also recommend using mosquito repellent.

Swiss artist Rahel Kraft works as a composer & maker in various collaborative settings. On the threshold of the imperceptible, her work shifts the boundaries between listener, maker, memory and the imagined. She performs, exhibits and installs her work, often in unfamiliar settings or in bespoke environments, to create friction, overlap and surprise in the listening experience. Kraft is a trained vocalist and holds an MA in Sound Arts with distinction from the University of the Arts London. She is currently documenting the tiniest vibrations in places that are difficult to reach or only accessible by boat in Europe and Japan.

Part of the cycle “Venice as a model for the future? - The lagoon / has the moon / between its legs / playing ball”.

"Venice as a model for the future” is a cycle of itinerant conversations, curated by Barbara Casavecchia and Pietro Consolandi and guided by activists, scientists, and guardians of this body of water and its inhabitants. This year's series, titled “The lagoon / has the moon / between its legs / playing ball” (again inspired by a poem by Etel Adnan), moves into the twilight and the silence of the night, exploring how humans and more than humans co-exist in Venice and its lagoon after dark.