See Another Sea – Publication

Throughout the centuries, the sea has fascinated humans and given birth to countless legends and projections, prompting men and women to embark on daring exploratory journeys that have durably changed and defined our perception of the world. The beginning of the 21st century will forever be marked by the waves of migration from South to North. Written by Water is an odyssey that takes the reverse path of today’s migratory routes across the Mediterranean, the cradle of modern society and birthplace of founding narratives that underpin our common heritage.

Following its own temporality, Written by Water forms an organic landscape in which the sea appears as a world in perpetual motion; the thoughts and memories associated with it become unspecified nomadic variables onto which spectators can project their own stories.

This book is a visual and poetic proposition that looks back at the different journeys (Strait of Gibraltar, Tunis, Carthage, Djerba, Trieste, Istria, Lampedusa, Catania, Etna, Marseille, Nice, Ventimiglia...) and collaborations (with blind people, migrants, graphic designers, an illustrator, an actor, an accordionist, a glassblower, a distiller, a sound and light designer, an architect, an ironworker...) made during the preparation of Written by Water.

The poem See Another Sea counts as many verses as the Venice Biennale counts exhibition days, namely 201. Each day, the poem is revealed to the public in the pavilion, gradually, almost imperceptibly. Between mantra and haiku, the poem epitomises the spirit of the pavilion, which, in an essential breath, attempts to touch upon the evanescence of things by appealing to all the senses.