Presentation of book 'La bonifica umana. Venezia dall'esodo al turismo' by Clara Zanardi

Friday 4 February, 6:30pm, Palazzo Vendramin Grimani

Fondazione dell'Albero d'Oro is happy to host the presentation of book La bonifica umana. Venezia dall'esodo al turismo by Italian author Clara Zanardi.
The volume will be presented on Friday 4 February at 6:30 pm in the sala delle quattro famiglie of Palazzo Vendramin Grimani by host Riccardo Bettin in the presence of the author.

About the author

Clara Zanardi, born in Belluno in 1988, is an urban anthropologist and activist for a degrowth tourism. She has a degree in Philosophical Sciences and a PhD in History of Societies and Institutions from the University of Trieste in 2020. She lives and works in Venice, where she deals with tourism, inequalities and urban transformation processes. She is the author of La bonifica umana. Venezia dall'esodo al turismo (Unicopli 2020) and Sul filo della presenza. De Martino fra filosofia e antropologia (Unicopli 2011).

The book

"Here the young people leave as soon as they can, the old people die as soon as they can and only the tourists remain'. Thes statement made by Venetians reveal a city rich in the past but poor in the future, transfigured by decades of depopulation and omnivorous tourism. But how could a city that in the 1950s was overcrowded, popular and with a diversified economy be transformed so quickly? This is the question this book attempts to answer, tracing the stages of the twentieth-century exodus from Venice through historical analysis and ethnographic interviews. For more than a century, in fact, the ruling classes promoted the "human reclamation" of the lagoon city, displacing the middle and working classes in order to assign it to more profitable tertiary and representative functions. This is a story that is still too little known, but is nevertheless fundamental for understanding how Venice came to be what it is today and for not resigning oneself to the idea that extinction is the ineluctable destiny of its millenary amphibious civilisation.

The event will be presented by Riccardo Bettin. He holds a degree in French and American literature from Ca'Foscari University and a Master's degree in Political Science and European Affairs from the University of Strasbourg. He is involved in the organisation of cultural events for cultural institutions and non-governmental organisations.

The event is promoted by the Società Dante Alighieri Venice Committee with the support of Fondazione dell'Albero d'Oro.

Free event, reservation mandatory.

participate