2 Introduction 3 Venice 4 Santa Croce 6 Dorsoduro 12 Cannaregio 22 San Polo 27 San Marco 32 Castello 38 Isola Sant’Elena 44 CONTENTS
Whilst working as a fellow for the British Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition at the 2023 Venice Biennale I had the opportunity to undertake a research project whilst living in Venice. For this research project I decided to map graffiti throughout the city, taking note of where it most commonly appeared as well as the type of graffiti that is most commonly seen in particular areas.
The main island of Venice is divided into a number of areas, the ones I decided to look at more closely were; Santa Croce, Dorsoduro, Cannaregio, San Polo, San Marco, Castello and Isola Sant’Elena. Within the city as a whole, there are many tags and stickers, but there are also additional types of graffiti such as stencils, throw-ups and murals that become more common in specific locations.
The artists behind these works seem to leave their mark on the city regardless of the architecture of the building, with little consideration of the style or history of the architecture and how the placement of the graffiti may affect the integrity and heritage of the building. Despite this, there does seem to be some favour towards smoother surfaces to create work on such as drainpipes, letterboxes and stone surfaces.
The findings of this project have been combined in this booklet, which documents the various graffiti found in the different districts of Venice in the form of photographs and some small drawings. This is accompanied by an abstract artwork illustrating my walk to the British Pavilion from San Marco to Giardini della Biennale and the architecture and graffiti I saw on this route.
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INTRODUCTION
VENICE
SANTA CROCE
Santa Croce is a quieter district of Venice with a more residential feel to it, the area is directly connected to the mainland via the bridge from Mestre that accommodates both cars and trains. The neighbourhood has quite a relaxed feel to it and the graffiti seems to reflect this with a couple of murals, stencils and throw ups dotted around the area along with tags that exist elsewhere in the city. Despite this quiet atmosphere, there is a Banksy piece in this area that attracts a lot of tourist attention, bringing people further out from the main part of the city to see it.
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The stencil to the left has been reused in other locations across the city, sometimes with writing across the image and other times with stickers or tags obscuring the face, as is the case with this iteration.
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MIGRANT CHILD - BANKSY
This Banksy piece (Migrant Child) was created during the 2019 Venice Biennale, titled ‘May You Live In Interesting Times’. Many speculate that this image of a child in a lifejacket holding a pink flare is a comment on the theme of migration which was present in the Venice Biennale in 2019. Over time the flooding that Venice experiences has washed away some of the paint, fading the image so that the pink flare is no longer as bright and certain features of the lifejacket can no longer be seen.
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DORSODURO
The area of Dorsoduro is home to the university area of Venice, with a collection of bars that open in the evenings to accommodate the younger inhabitants. This area is also home to cultural institutions such as the Gallerie dell’Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. There is a shift in the type of graffiti found here, becoming apparent as soon as you cross the Ponte dell’Accademia which bridges from the area of San Marco to Dorsoduro. The university campus has a covered walkway under one of the buildings which is home to lots of throw-ups and stencils, giving it a very different feel to the rest of the city. The graffiti here seems to feel a bit more chaotic, with pieces being created over one another appearing to fight over artistic and physical territory.
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PONTE DELL’ACCADEMIA
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TAGS BY THE SAME INDIVIDUAL
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OVERLAPPING PIECES
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THROW-UPS
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STICKERS ON METAL SURFACES
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CANNAREGIO
Cannaregio is the northern area of Venice, home to the Jewish Quarter. This area is more accessible than the rest of the city due to its direct connection to the train station which takes you to Mestre on the mainland. There is a lot of footfall in this area, but this does not seem to increase the amount of graffiti; there are notably fewer tags and stickers with larger pieces seeming to be more common. Although the area accommodates some popular tourist destinations there are also a lot of residential neighbourhoods off of the main streets which could potentially deter graffiti artists due to the increased security and neighbourhood attitude in this area. Despite this, as you get closer to San Marco and San Polo, the number of tags and stickers does increase.
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TAGS AND STICKERS
BY ‘BiBi’
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The name ‘BiBi’ appears all over the northern section of the city in the form of stickers and tags. The name is also sometimes accompanied by ‘VMD’ in these tags. It was interesting to trace the location of these tags throughout this area, as it enables you to follow this person’s route through the city. Below are some of the many forms the tags and stickers can be seen in.
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MORE ARTISTIC PIECES
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SAN POLO
San Polo is home to the Rialto Bridge, one of the most visited spots in Venice. Due to the heavy footfall in this area, there is a large amount of graffiti in the form of tags, stickers and stencils scattered around the alleyways as well as tourists engraving names and messages into the surfaces of the landmarks. Similarly to Cannaregio, San Polo has certain alleyways and walls that seem to attract graffiti with pieces being created on top of one another, whereas in other areas there is almost no graffiti at all.
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ARTISTIC PIECES
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The writing throughout the city in these images has many different meanings, with some people engraving their names onto the Rialto Bridge, leaving a trace of their identity on a landmark, whilst others reference social issues – ‘DONNE LIBERE!’ translating to ‘FREE WOMEN!’.
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SAN MARCO
San Marco is perhaps the most visited district in Venice, with San Marco Square situated just off of the Grand Canal being very popular with tourists. There is hardly any graffiti visible in the square itself, but in the small streets around the square there are tags and stickers covering the drainpipes, windowsills and doors of the alleys. Due to the popularity of the area with tourists, there is an increased security presence, therefore it seems there is a sense of urgency in the graffiti created; typically consisting of tags with both spray paint and markers, as well as stickers.
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Both of these images demonstrate how visitors to the city leave behind names and dates on the walls of Venice. The image to the right shows where writing has been scraped away by the umbrellas of other tourists and residents, removing parts of the writing along with the wall surface.
The image to the right shows again how people want to leave a trace of their identity behind on a landmark for the city. In this case names have been etched and written onto the interior walls of the Basilica di San Marco.
The images below contain statements mentioning the American presidents ‘JFK’ and ‘Theodoro Roosevelt’, these seemed to appear in various locations mainly in San Marco.
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TAGGED BOXES
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These images include one of the largest stickers I saw in Venice (top right image), and a realistic depiction of the interior of the Teatro La Fenice (bottom left image). This demonstrates the variety of styles of work that are visible in one small city.
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CASTELLO
Castello is a large area in the east of the city that is again home to tags and stickers dotted throughout the streets. The nature of the area is more creative with the Giardini della Biennale and Arsenale within the district which house the Art and Architecture Biennales This appears to influence the nature of the graffiti in the area with colourful throw ups and tags covering most of the walls of the area. This could potentially be facilitated by the combination of different communities in the area, with tourists and residents coming together in the shops, cafes and cultural attractions in the area.
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STICKERS ON VARIOUS SURFACES
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WRITING WITHIN THE CITY
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ISOLA SANT ’ ELENA
This area is separated from the rest of the city by a bridge and the Giardini della Biennale so immediately has a different feel to the rest of the city. The area comprises of mainly residential buildings with a few cafes and local shops, but is also the location of the Pier Luigi Stadium which is the home ground of Venezia Football Club. The presence of the football stadium has affected the style of graffiti here, with pieces created on the walls of the stadium referencing the club. Despite this, the neighbourhood is a lot calmer and quieter than most others in the city, having a similar feel to Santa Croce.
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WRITING ON THE STADIUM WALLS
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PARTIALLY REMOVED THROW-UPS
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With thanks to the British Council and the University of Liverpool for providing me with the opportunity to be a part of the 2023 Venice Fellowship Programme. All images were photographed or created by the author - Keisha Pearce.
