Restoration and Cultural Exchanges between Venice and Dalmatia, 2000-2007 curated by Venetian Heritage

Curated by Toto Bergamo Rossi and Grazia Fumo

Palazzo Ducale, Venice
September – October 2007

funding
Venetian Heritage

On the occasion of the European Cultural Heritage Days ‘Great Routes of Culture: Added Value for Europe’ initiative, the Ministry of Culture and the Superintendence for Monuments and Fine Arts of Venice chose Venetian Heritage as an example of international collaboration between countries, organising the exhibition: Restorations and Cultural Exchanges between Venice and Dalmatia, 2000-2007, curated by Venetian Heritage. The exhibition illustrated the work carried out by Venetian Heritage in Croatia between 2000 and 2007 through images and texts documenting the restorations of the Orsini Chapel, the narthex, portal, baptistery and pulpit of the Cathedral of Trogir; the Gothic chapels of Diocletian’s Mausoleum in Split and the numerous works of art restored in 2001 on the occasion of the exhibition Treasures of Croatia restored by Venetian Heritage Inc.
The exhibition presentation and study day included talks by architect Renata Codello, ex Superintendent for the Arts of Venice and the Lagoon, which hosted the exhibition, Lawrence Lovett, Founding Chairman of Venetian Heritage, Dr. Grazia Fumo of the Superintendency for the BAPPSAE of Venice and the Lagoon, Dr. Marie Paule Roudil, ex head of the Culture Unit of UNESCO in Venice, Dr Anne Markham Schulz from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island and advisor to Venetian Heritage, Dr Marino Zorzi, ex Director of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice, Professor Giorgio Torraca of the Università La Sapienza di Roma, the architect Mario Lolli Ghetti, ex Regional Director for Cultural and Landscape Heritage in Tuscany, and Dr. Alberto Rizzi.
Venetian Heritage, carried out a series of works in Croatia, where important examples of Veneto art are situated. They are often in a terrible state of conservation. Thus began the campaign of works by Venetian Heritage, not only to restore the monuments chosen by the local Superintendency, but also to offer Croatian students the chance to learn the modern restoration and conservation techniques used in Venice. The Dalmatian coast in the late Medieval Age, as in the Renaissance and the Baroque, was impregnated with Venetian art, which in turn was heavily influenced by Dalmatian art. As Prof Cvito Fiskovic once said: “One sailed on the Adriatic not only with the bora wind, but also with the scirocco.”