OUR FUTURE HOME: VENICE

The future home of The Human Safety Net Foundation will be in the Procuratie Vecchie on St Mark’s Square in Venice, currently being restored and renovated by Generali. The building is where the company’s founders first established their offices in Venice back in 1832.

This city built on water has been cosmopolitan and inclusive ever since it was founded by refugees escaping invaders. Even its name – Procuratie Vecchie – can be traced back to the Procuratori, the first inhabitants and high officials who ran the Venetian Republic. Procuratori administered the city and were also in charge of social issues, a historical connection with the mission of The Human Safety Net today.

All over the world, Venice is famous for its imagination, ingenuity and openness, welcoming millions of visitors every year. For the first time in 500 years, Procuratie Vecchie will be open to the public in 2022. Tourists and Venetians will be led along an interactive journey to discover the challenges that vulnerable people face, learn about the social impact of The Human Safety Net programmes and how they can take action. Our home will symbolically bridge the gaps between open and closed spaces, ancient institutions, social issues and future challenges.

Watch the video: www.thehumansafetynet.org/about/venice-hub

Above:

This watercolour represents the Procuratie Vecchie in St Mark’s Square. It was created by Gaspard Njock, a multidisciplinary artist born in Cameroon. He spent several years in Italy, including in Venice, before settling in Paris. Njock graduated with a degree in performing arts from La Sapienza (Rome), and in musicology from Sorbonne University (Paris). His path crossed that of The Human Safety Net in France, within the context of his work as a cartoonist and author. Njock started a collaboration with a network of refugee journalists who founded GuitiNews http://guitinews.fr/, an online news channel incubated by the For Refugee Start-Ups programme in Paris.