Climate actions
Last December 9thin the days of Cop28 in Dubai, Extinction rebellion activists poured into the Grand Canal bags of fluorescein (the tracer liquid used by plumbers to detect water leaks in pipes) and the water turned green. Simultaneously, three of them they lowered themselves from the Rialto bridge and, hanging by ropes and harnesses, they unrolled one banner (“Cop28: while the government speaks we are hanging by a thread”). Against the risk of accidents and traffic hazards, the administration had temporarily water traffic blocked, including Actv vaporettos. And so the charge of interruption of public service remains standing. But it’s the only one. The other initiatives go towards archiving, including that of two days earlier in San Marco: on December 7 shortly after 11.30 a group of six young Last Generation militants arrived in the square with a fire extinguisher and the alleged sludge (it was later discovered that it was cocoa dissolved in water) which was thrown at the Basilica. «We are here to sound the fire alarm – the words of the environmentalists, who were then taken to the police station for identification -. This is a non-violent protest. Venice is a city that is sinking because our governments have not acted against the climate crisis. Today those of you who are here to take photos and see this church have a privilege.”
Art in the viewfinder
The cocoa mud was immediately removed by the Prosecutor’s Office who did not file a complaint. A few months later, on April 6th, the Ultima Generation was again the protagonist of an action at Accademia Galleries: glue on your hands, a wire suspended in front of a painting by Francesco Guardi, environmentalists sat on the ground with a banner. The Academy was the protagonist also another blitzit was September 3, 2022 (the Film Festival was underway on the Lido) when two protesters glued themselves to the protective glass and the frame of Giorgione’s Tempest unrolling the “No gas, no coal” sign.
