ABOUT RELIGHT VENICE

IT ALL STARTED WITH EAT AND RUN

Eat and Run, the original name, derives from the concept of ‘hit and run’, referred to the current model of fast travel. I chose to name my project Eat and Run as a reminder of how NOT to experience Venice (and all other places in the world)!

THE NAME HAS NOW CHANGED TO RELIGHT VENICE,

because the important thing was to focus more on the objective than on ironic criticism, the aim being to give Venice back its original light.

Relight Venice moves from the word souvenir, which originally referred to objects made by artisans, bought in a foreing city to bring home a memory, or an emotion.

Unfortunately, in cities like Venice, mass tourism has transformed the social tissue and most of the souvenir shops sell cheap objects made in faraway factories, so depriving souvenirs of their original meaning and impoverishing both the local culture and the exchange implied in the act of traveling.  

The aim of Relight Venice is to raise awareness of the materials and the traditions of objects that carry a millenary history, returning the word souvenir to its original value through the creation of design objects able to entice curiosity and trigger a virtuous cycle that brings back attention to themes and places we often take for granted, and its key project is Enjoy Venice.

Therefore, Relight Venice gathers several projects related to travel, and aims at contributing to the diffusion of manual work through the production of objects that carry history and meanings.

WHAT IT WANTS TO BE
Through the production of design objects, I wish to create greater awareness on the consequences of the choices we make when traveling and promote a more responsible and slower touristic model. Unfortunately, in many cities like Venice, the fast growth of mass tourism has transformed the social tissue and too many are shops that sell arguable products made in faraway factories, depriving so ‘souvenirs’ of their value and meaning.

WHAT I HOPE IT WILL BECOME
A network of collaborations among artisans, local makers, designers, artists, and more (lace-makers, shipyards, pastry shops, just to name a few) who share the same goals.

GOAL
Sensitizing the importance of craftwork and artisanal productions and underlining that ‘souvenirs’ are objects able to convey ideas and stories and traveling the world triggers a process of learning and development.