November 12, 2019 is an important day in the history of Venice. The high tide that flooded the entire city reached 187 cm and ruined many facilities and homes. Venice has always dealt with the problems that come with high tide and with the fact that it’s a city on water, but never has a high tide caused so many problems since 1966, when the water reached almost 2 m above sea level. The hardship that the recent high tide brought among Venetians hasn’t however weakened there strong and resilient character.
Each and every problem has been dealt with great courage and by everyone rolling up their sleeves. There are many stories, like the recent campaign started by Vogue, who decided to print illustrated-covered copies and all the money they collect, will be donated to Querini Stampalia Foundation, that saw many antique volumes destroyed.
Thus, I would like to talk about another aid project concerning the Fallani Venezia, a historical serigraphy studio founded in 1968 based in Venice. They too had many problems with the high tide, as the flooding has damaged a lot of their machinery and materials, which had allowed them over the years to bring the works of numerous artists and illustrators who attended the printing house to life. The Fallani Venezia prints high-quality serigraph editions inherited his passion for this art from his father Fiorenzo, who worked with more than 200 artists from all other the world realising over 1000 prints. Alongside the production of commissioned prints, they have been for several years now proposing a wide range of workshops and hosting multiple residencies both for amateurs and those who would like to experience the process firsthand.
The “Chronicles from a Sunken City” project involves a group of artists – both old and new to the studio – each of whom designed an artwork related to the city of Venice. Bruno Bozzetto, Ale Giorgini, Riccardo Guasco, Franco Matticchio, Andy Rementer, Jacopo Rosati, Guido Scarabottolo, Lucio Schiavon and Olimpia Zagnoli have decided to donate one of their illustrations to the Fallani serigraphy studio to allow Gianpaolo, deus ex machina of this laboratory, not only to restart his business with new screen printings, but also to replace the broken machinery.
