Honoring the Future is partnering with internationally renowned sculptor Dalya Luttwak to present a sculpture in Venice, Italy on the occasion of the prestigious 2018 Architecture Biennale.
Dalya Luttwak, Global Warning: First Tropical Mangrove in Venice (2018). Painted aluminum. Dimensions: 3 m x 2 m. ©2018, Dalya Luttwak. Courtesy of the artist.
Titled Global Warning: First Tropical Mangrove in Venice, the sculpture is part of an exhibition hosted by the European Cultural Centre and organized by the nonprofit Global Art Affairs (GAA) Foundation. Focused on Time, Space, Existence, the exhibition features a diverse selection of works from architects, photographers, sculptors and universities from throughout the world.
Global Warning: First Tropical Mangrove in Venice calls attention to the challenges facing Venice’s continued existence as a historic, artistic, architectural and cultural center. Already plagued by frequent acqua alta (periodic flooding) and subsiding land, Venice is now further threatened by rising seas and an ever-warming climate.
“Mangroves are potent symbols – highly adaptable and well-known for their role in protecting coasts in warmer climes from hurricanes, tsunamis, and erosion,” explained Fran Dubrowski, Director of Honoring the Future. “Planting ‘sculptural mangroves’ in sight of Venetian landmarks rivets attention to the urgent need to address climate change,” Dubrowski adds.
Dalya Luttwak’s Global Warning sculpture occupies a prime location at the Giardini Marinaressa, a garden along Venice’s monumental waterfront near the exhibition pavilions of the famed Venice Biennale. The Biennale is an international contemporary art exhibition held at various locations in Venice biennially (in odd-numbered years) dating to 1895; its architecture component (held biennially in even-numbered years) became a separate Biennale in 1980. Both Biennales attract hundreds of thousand of visitors.
The 2018 Architecture Biennale aims to encourage new ways of thinking in which “[w]e see the earth as Client… [and recognize] long-lasting responsibilities.” The organizers quote a Greek proverb: “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”
“Dalya Luttwak has both embraced – and given physical form to – the wisdom of this ancient adage,” observes Dubrowski. “Global Warning: First Tropical Mangrove in Venice is a profound and inspiring testimonial to our generation’s responsibility to those who come after us.”
The exhibition will open with Preview Nights on May 24 and 25, 2018 and will continue from May 26, 2018 to November 25, 2018. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
See the related article on Global Warning: First Tropical Mangrove in Venice here.
Read more about Dalya Luttwak’s work here.
