PROJECT MEETING ITALY 2016
This week we were five countries (Italy, France, Germany, Denmark and Sweden) and we worked on migration in Europe. So this group has traveled in each country of the project during one week. This week, we have to work on two projects:
Writing a chapter of a book concerning cultural codes and genealogical trees and making a film about migration.
On monday, we had to present our genealogical trees and all the cultural codes of each country. We also had to work in groups per differents workshops. On Tuesday, we went to Venice and we had to work on migration in this city. On Wednesday, we had a conference about cultural codes, and we had to present the work done in Venice and make some different workshops. On Thursday, we had workshops in the morning and were free after that. On Friday, we had to finish the work and prepare the exhibition for the parents on the evening. On Saturday, all the delegations except the french one went back home. On Sunday, the french delegation came back to France.
INFLUENCES IN VENICE
On Tuesday ,the 8th of November 2016, all of the Erasmus group have visited Venice, the fantastic city of art and love that is known all around the world. We have visited the whole city and found some foreign influences. We have taken pictures and we have discussed different points that we have noticed. So, at the end of this group work we have concluded the work done in Venice, even if it appears like an Italian city, it has been influenced a lot by other countries and migration. During this trip we have collected lots of information and we have been thinking about different points like the architecture and the the typical streets called "calle" that are an example of migration and the foreign shops that are a sign of globalisation.
Before we show you something about architecture, streets and shops, we want to explain the right meanings of these two words that we usually use as synonyms:
1)MIGRATION: Movement of people to a new area or country in order to find work or better living conditions creating an exchange of cultures.
2)GLOBALISATION:Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by and investment and aided by information technology.
•ARCHITECTURE:
In Venice there are Greek influences from the east in the time of Renaissance and Baroque. The examples we have found are Ca' Pesaro and Ca' Rezzonico.
Gothic style in this city is present because of the Byzantine and Ottoman invasions (Sultan Mehmet II) and from the Latins from the west. The examples are some churches like Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Saints John and Paul in Venice .
Even if it seems quite strange, in Venice there are also a lots of Arabic influences characterized by the shapes of the windows. The most clear monuments influenced by this style are Moorish Spain, Doge's Palace and Ca' d'Oro .
If we look at the basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore we can say that it's influenced by the Palladianism.
Lastly, the most important monument in Venezia, San Mark's Dome, that is visited by a lots of tourists for its style, is a mix between Arabic style and Costantinopian style. In fact, this big church is tall, steep and has ripped lanterns and mosaics as the Minarets of El-Hakim in Cairo and the gold background and the central plane is typical of Constantinople's Churches .
•EXAMPLES OF TRACKS OF MIGRATION IN VENICE
Between 1984 and 1989 the diversion of immigrants flows towards Southern Europe transformed Italy into a receiver of immigrants. However, migration is not a new phenomenon, it has existed throughout European history.
The Widmann family is an aristocratic family of Venice with Germanic origins. They helped the Venetian Republic during the Cretan War between 1645 and 1669. They received in return the right to sit in Maggior Consiglio in Venice. So this is an obvious sign of a German influence in Venice.
During our visit in Venice, we have found an example of how migration has also been present in Venice throughout time :
We visited a garden and a museum called Fondazione Querini Stampalia which has been open to visitors since 1869, and its architect is Carlo Scarpa. This museum maintains its ancient atmosphere but also hosts some more modern works, as for example this Japanese garden. So we can say the influences in Venice are also Japanese.
This picture represents the church San Giorgio dei Greci imagined by the architect Sante Lombardo in the neighbourhood of Castello in Venice. It was the center of the Confraternity of the Greeks in Venice. It has been for centuries one of the most splendid Orthodox temples in the world. We identify the Greek architecture thanks to columns and arches, like on this monument.
Starting from XVe century, Venice became a place of ideal refuge for Greek citizens who fled the war.
The St Mark's Basilica (see picture) is a Byzantine Cathedral which is situated on piazza San Marco. It was built in 828, and it became a Cathedral of the patriarch of Venice in 1807. The form of the windows on this cathedral and also on the houses show us that there is an Arab influence in Venice.
The Venetian Ghetto was the area of Venice in which Jewish people had to live under the Venetian Republic, between 1516 and 1797. The particularity of this quarter is the height of buildings because it's unusual in Venice.
Although it has been a lot of fun, it was not easy to film the moderation for our film as we realized during our week in Italy. We had three cameras and extra audio equipment, some text sheets, some professional spotlights and help of Italian professionals for filming. Before being able to use this, we first of all had to write the different texts, learn how to do moderation, how to prepare it and we also had to think about in which order the different things should appear in our movie.
Like we already had in Germany, also in Italy we had a documentation team, which filmed the week, took pictures, and took notes ...
We hope we can give you a little impression of our project week in Italy with this little film about it.