The Tempest in The Tempest: Art and Ecology Across the Disciplines

The international symposium – co-organized with Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia and University of Warwick Venice Centre – will allow for an "ecocritical" reading of the works of art of our collection, to face the current climate crisis with an interdisciplinary approach.

This interdisciplinary event explores the multiple ways in which European art can offer valuable insights into our contemporary environmental condition, providing both historical perspectives and forward-looking hope.

Experts and practitioners from various fields – history, architecture, art history, literature, creative writing, oceanography, climatology, linguistics, and environmental activism – have been invited to select a painting from the Accademia collection. They will engage with it to analyze its ecological themes, implications, and entanglements. Our aim is to show that art can serve both as a diagnosis and an inspiration for understanding the climate crisis engulfing our planet, while demonstrating how Venice offers a unique vantage point for observing and finding solutions to these challenges.

The goal will be an "ecocritical" itinerary at the Gallerie dell'Accademia, to be published by Wetlands Press as part of a new series devoted to the nexus between Venetian art spaces and ecology.

Keynote speakers include Alan C. Braddock, author of Implication: An Ecocritical Dictionary of Art History, Peter N. Miller, president of the American Academy in Rome and author of The Weather on 9/9/01, and bestselling author Olivia Laing, who will discuss her new book The Garden Against Time.

The event will be held in English.

Organising committe: Shaul Bassi, Lucio De Capitani, Fabiana Fazzi (Università Ca' Foscari), Giulio Manieri Elia (director, Gallerie dell'Accademia), Luca Molà (director, Warwick Venice Centre) e Michele Nicolaci (curator, Gallerie dell'Accademia).

The symposium will be held on Monday 18 November at the Gallerie dell'Accademia and Tuesday 19 November at Warwick Venice Centre.

Free entry, reservation required at the following link: https://forms.gle/dugQvgxq1xAxKvPSA