[dropcap type=”1″]T[/dropcap]he Creation/Gondola, placed on a floating platform, in the middle of San Marco Basin in front of San Giorgio’s Church, and open to the public from 16.00 to 18.30, will be lowered into the Lagoon starting at 21.00.
The Redentore is one of the most historical and popular fests in Venice and it has been celebrated since 1577, commemorating the end of a terrible pestilence, that was honored with the construction of the Redentore Basilica on the island of Giudecca . It was carried out by the famous architect Andrea di Pietro della Gondola, better known as Andrea Palladio.
During the 2016 Redentore edition, more than 120.000 spectators and beyond 5000 vessels were counted between the Giudecca channel and San Marco Basin.
The Creation/Gondola, a sculpture in carbon fiber, will appear black and shining in the Lagoon.
The sculpture is an homage to the original Gondola that around 1605, by the order of Senato della Serenissima, had to be black, not as a sign of mourning, but as a manifestation of elegance and abnegation of pomp and vanity.
Marco Papa has chosen the Gondola as an entity to be reinterpreted, because of its sinuous, slender, elegant shapes, an emblem of Metaphysics and mystery, Redemption for social and cultural decay.
The artist introduces the Creation/Gondola in his production of Painted Objects, sculptures modeled in the “Dimensions of Man” realized in carbon fiber, with harmonious twisting forms creating structure.
The Creation/Gondola will be placed on a stone base from Istria, echoing and amplifying the collective imagination of the gondola souvenir as object.
Placed inside, spectators will be able to see the Creation/Seat, a bronze sculpture conceived in homage to Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker. The profile of the great poet Dante Alighieri, portrayed in a moment of contemplation, before starting his journey on the Divine Comedy , has been reshaped by Marco Papa in that of the well-known boxer Mike Tyson, who is the protagonist in the second act of Marco Papa’s project Trilogy On The Verge, that will take place in other Italian cities.
During the evening of the Redentore, starting at 21.00, the Creation/Gondola will be lifted by a manual winch from a floating platform with a rope 50 meters long that will be pulled by all those who attend the Gondola launch, taking part from their boats, in San Marco Basin. A music especially composed by Gino Lucente, will amplify the tension of the act.
The Creation/Gondola, after its launch, will sail around the Lagoon throughout the entire Redentore celebration until the following day, when the Venice Patriarch will deliver his annual benediction to the city.
