Genoa is getting ready to welcome the visitors of the 50th International Boat Show – which will be held from 2 to 10 October – with exhibitions, events, and shows. Here is a little foretaste:
Acquariovillage
Starting on Saturday, 29 May at 10.00 am Genoa residents and tourists alike will have a chance to get onboard Nazario Sauro, the first submarine to be turned into a museum in the water, and to visit the dedicated pre-show set up at the Galata Museo del Mare sea museum.
This unique submarine-museum and its opening to visitors are the result of the joint work of several public institutions and private entities: from Mu.Ma (the Italian Institute of Sea and Navigation Museums) – which together with Genoa City Council and the Liguria Regional Council was the initiator of this project – to the Italian Navy, which donated the submarine to the city; from Fincantieri – the shipyard that built it and refitted it – to Costa Edutainment, which manages Galata Museo del Mare and the AcquarioVillage, of which Nazario Sauro is the real feather in the cap.
Through Nazario Sauro, Galata Museo del Mare opens up to the city and to the outside world. The Galata Museum is the leading museum in the Liguria region in terms of number of visitors. It is managed by Costa Edutainment and owned by Genoa Municipality, which administers it and supervises its artistic, scientific and cultural direction through Mu.Ma – the Italian Institute of Sea and Navigation Museums.
The pre-show dedicated to submarine Nazario Sauro (whose reproduction is on display on the third floor of the museum) is an introduction to the actual visit of the submarine, and further enriches it. This section allows visitors to take some time and interact with some of the equipment and instruments that are not, or are only partly, accessible onboard, either due to a lack of space or for safety reasons. Moreover, even those visitors that cannot get onboard the submarine (disabled people, pregnant women, children under the age of 4 years) will be able to enjoy a unique, enthralling experience.
The combination of information on the complex operation of the submarine on the one hand and entertainment and play on the other result in great interaction and a hands-on experience that makes learning much easier and more fun. For example, visitors will have a chance to try the diving and surfacing modes of the submarine, the use of the periscope and the hydrophone, as well as some aspects of life onboard.
The itinerary has been set up on the third floor of the museum, along 40 metres of the “submarine” model, and includes:
- history of submarine technology
- school for submarine crew members
- periscopes
- submarine audio guide
- virtual tour, also including some videos with true tales about real life onboard
- allies and opponents during the Cold War.
“Diving” into Nazario Sauro is a real full-immersion experience: both because you are physically under the water surface and because you are completely surrounded by the boat, as if you were on a real mission, and not safely berthed in the waters of Genoa docks!
Because very little has been changed onboard, and the original structures, passageways and hatches have been fully preserved (except for the access and exit stairs at the beginning and at the end of the itinerary), all visitors will be asked to wear a helmet, appropriate shoes, and perform a self-assessment of their ability to take part in the visit.
2009 Genoa Boat Show - Image courtesy of Genoa Boat Show
Galata Open Air Museum
Besides opening to the public the S-518 Nazario Saurio submarine and the new “Submarine School” section, Galata Museo del Mare has also set up a new outdoor exhibition itinerary: the Galata Open Air Museum.
This section has been conceived in cooperation with the Liguria Regional Council, Genoa City Council, the Regional Department for Cultural Heritage and Activities, the local Superintendencies, and Genoa Port Authority, as part of the Framework Agreement on Cultural Heritage and Activities signed in 2006 by the Ligurian Regional Council, the Italian Ministry for Economics and Finance, and the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities. This Agreement has also allowed to carry out some preliminary reclamation, restoration and valorisation works in one of the oldest parts of Genoa Harbour – the Docks.
- The new energy exhibition – La città dei bambini e dei ragazzi (The City of Children and Teenagers)
La città dei bambini e dei ragazzi, Italy’s largest centre devoted to entertainment, science and technologies, makes the range of activities proposed by AcquarioVillage even more complete with its new exhibition on ENERGY.
This new installation introduces youngsters to the concept of energy in its different forms, its transformation and main properties, with a special focus on the principles lying behind the production of energy from some renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectric power, wind power, and energy obtained from solar panels.
This new scientific section, conceived and set up by CNR (the Italian Research Institute), is located in the 6-14 years area and consists of a long interactive wall divided into several installations in sequence. Using several media, young visitors can produce various types of energy, which in turn will energise small electrical motors and conveyor belts taking objects from a starting point to a final destination. There are also two special stationary bicycles connected to a lamp placed on top of a column: the challenge is to see who will produce the largest amount of energy and thus obtain the brightest light.
- “Turtle Vision” and cow fishes – Acquario di Genova”
Genoa Aquarium too has recently enriched AcquarioVillage’s offer regarding nature and the environment, with “Turtle Vision”, a new 3D film allowing the public to enjoy a “swim” through the ocean as seen through the eyes of a green turtle. The public is indeed led by Sammy (the turtle of the movie) to discover the long migrations he has embarked upon during his life, and that have taken him to the various Oceans of our Planet; including, on a few occasions, the accidental trespassing on waters different from the ones normally inhabited by this species.
The journey begins on the beach where this turtle was born and where adult females come back to lay the eggs. From there, Sammy starts his migrations, during which he will meet human beings, on occasions and in situations that highlight two very different ways of using the sea and its resources: on the one hand are the lack of care and respect for the sea, which leads to very dangerous consequences endangering many marine species; on the other is the tangible commitment towards sea conservation and the safeguard of marine environments.
Another recent “new entry” are Husar and Pepe, two cow fish specimens that the public can admire in one of the large exhibition basins. The arrival of these two specimens is part of the European coordination project for the safeguard and reproduction under controlled environment of this species (currently at risk of extinction), which allows participating entities to exchange specimens based on a protocol aiming to ensure their survival.
2009 Genoa Boat Show
- Scegli il Pesce Giusto (Choose the right fish) – Acquario di Genova
Scegli il Pesce Giusto is the new edutainment activity of the AcquarioVillage world on the issue of sustainable fish consumption, targeted at adult individual participants. The title of this initiative is the same as the one of the international campaign aimed at raising awareness and teaching sustainable consumption of seafood promoted by the World Ocean Network (WON), of which Acquario di Genova is a co-founder.
The other international partners in the campaign are the Nausicaa Centre National de la Mer (Boulogne-sur-Mer, France) and Aquarium de Finisterrae (La Coruña, Spain).
This initiative includes a one-to-one meeting with an expert, during which participants learn about fishing, the overexploitation of seafood, the need for sustainable fish consumption, and are taught how to recognise minor fish species, clean them, and cook them.
This one-hour meeting takes place every weekend throughout the year with the following time schedule: Saturdays from 11am to 4 pm, Sundays at 11am for a group of maximum 20 people. “Choose the right fish” costs 29 Euros per person, including access to the aquarium and in-depth information activities. Booking required, Incoming Liguria, tel. +39 010 2345.666
View from above at the 49th Genoa Boat Show
Museo Luzzati
Flavio Costantini – Mostra antologica (Anthological Exhibition)
From 21 September to 7 November 2010
The exhibition, devoted to Flavio Costantini’s works, opens at Museo Luzzati, at Porta Siberia, in Genoa, on Tuesday 21 September. The Museum named after the artist’s friend, Luzzati, has indeed chosen the date of Costantini’s eighty-fourth birthday to inaugurate this anthological exhibition, set up for the first time ever in Genoa and devoted to the great Ligurian artist and his unmistakable style. The exhibition will outline the main phases of Costantini’s long career: the cycles dedicated to history will feature tempera paintings on “anarchical” subjects, those on the Tsars, and the 30 pastel and pencil works on the French Revolution; the section Le navi e il mare (Vessels and the sea) will include not only historical works on ships, but also an original cycle with new drawings depicting Genoa harbour as seen from various perspectives; a section of the exhibition will be devoted to the advertising pictures created by Costantini for companies like Erg, Latte Tigullio, Esso, Italsider, while another one will pay tribute to his famous portraits of artists and cultural figures like Freud, Kafka, Italo Calvino, Emanuele Luzzati.
To underline the lifetime friendship between Emanuele Luzzati and Flavio Costantini, the Museum’s Cannon Embrasure Halls will host an old project of theirs which was never accomplished, i.e. an exhibition entitled Una notte all’opera (One night at the Opera), with features portraits of composers and musicians by Flavio Costantini and fashion plates and sketches from Emanuele Luzzati’s opera scene designs.
Info: +39 010.2530328
Entrance ticket: € 5; free entrance for children up to the age of 6; € 2 from 7 to 18 years; € 4 over the age of 65.
Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10am-1pm and 2pm-6pm; Saturdays and Sundays: 10am-6pm.
Palazzo Ducale
Mediterranea. Voci tra le sponde (Mediterranea – Voices between the seashores)
Starting on 9 September 2010
This interesting cycle of meetings with writers, sociologists, and philosophers is back. The aim of this initiative is to let out the different voices, sounds, and pictures of the Mediterranean Basin, focusing on relations and mutual contaminations, but also on conflicts and existing barriers. The final objective is to increase knowledge, exchange ideas, and gradually reduce prejudice and commonplaces. Among others, Predrag Matvejevic, Enzo Bianchi, Iain Chambers, Etgar Keret, Orhan Pamuk will take part in the event.
Meditazioni Mediterraneo
From 10 September to 7 November 2010
The Doge’s Apartment
A multimedia and interactive journey across the Mediterranean Basin to enjoy the atmospheres, sounds, arts, and crafts of the countries and peoples that have inhabited it and travelled through it over the centuries. Besides the video installations by Studio Azzurro – one of the leading international video art groups -, this exhibition will include ancient volumes, atlases, geographic maps and nautical charts, as well as precious archaeological finds: amphorae, coins, ancient jewels, anchors, small ship models, votive statues, and terracotta items.
Persona in meno. “Residenza per giovani curatori” (Person Less. Residence for young Curators)
From 18 September to 17 October 2010
The creation of “portraits without portraits” is a paradoxical provocation of Persona in meno, the contemporary art exhibition organised and promoted in cooperation with the foundations Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo and Fondazione Garrone, which closes this year’s Residenza per giovani curatori project. The works on display aim at evoking absent presences, apparitions, replacements, private rituals, and failed attempts to be invisible.
Musei di Nervi Wolfsoniana
Novecento a tavola (Dining in the 20th century)
From 14 July 2010 to May 2011
This exhibition includes three complete dining rooms which join Piero Bottoni’s (1937, already on display), allowing to trace the evolution of the styles that characterised the Italian decorative arts in the period between the two World Wars and to reflect upon the lifestyles of those times, the social meaning of the family and the influence of the behaviours proposed by politics and by the new media that were being introduced in those years.
Info: +39 010 3231329
Museo Chiossone
Animali dello Zodiaco giapponese (Animals from the Japanese Zodiac)
From 23 March 2010 to 2 January 2011
According to the Buddhist tradition, the Zodiac includes the first twelve animals that paid tribute to the dying Buddha: in order of arrival, the Rat, the Ox, the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon, the Snake, the Horse, the Sheep, the Monkey, the Rooster, the Dog, and the Boar. In fact, the origins of the Zodiac date back to remote prehistoric times, when man practiced a sort of animism and worshipped the animals and the stars.
Info: +39 010-542285
瑞巌寺 Zuiganji. La vita dei monaci Zen (The life of Zen monks)
From 23 June to 31 October 2010
Photographs by Fabio Massimo Fioravanti. This exhibition consists of a series of photographs documenting the life and rituals of the Zen monks of the Rinzai school, in the Zuiganji monastery.
Info: +39 010-542285
Gam e Raccolte Frugone (The Gallery of Modern Art and the Frugone Collections)
Mediterraneo fantastico. Mediterraneo da museo (Fantastic Mediterranean. Mediterranean for Museums)
From 25 September 2010 to 1 May 2011
An unprecedented display of the great masterpieces of the Gallery of Modern Art and the Frugone Collections.
Info: +39 010 3726025 – www.ga.museidigenova.it 010 322396
Museo del Risorgimento (Museum of the Risorgimento)
Il bacio di Francesco Hayez (The Kiss by Francesco Hayez)
From 2 October 2010 to 9 January 2011
This version of the famous Bacio (the Kiss) – one of the best known Italian 19th century subjects, representing the national ideals of that time – stops over in Genoa, together with some other works allowing for interesting comparisons.
Info: +39 010 2465843
Castello D’Albertis
Ballando senza i lupi (Dancing without the wolves)
From 8 October to 7 November 2010
This exhibition is devoted to the present life of North American native populations. Through words and images, it describes the current life conditions of natives living in the reserves, facing day-to-day life in contemporary society and taking up today’s individual challenges, as well as the social challenges posed by their origins and their native traditional heritage.
Info: +39 010 2723820
Musei di Strada Nuova – spazi espositivi dell’Auditorium (Museums on the Strada Nuova – Auditorium exhibition areas)
Tarnima – spirito della luce eterna (Tarnima – the spirit of eternal light). Photographs by Rosetta Messori
From 8 October to 7 November 2010
A display on the Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East featuring photographs taken between 1996 and 2004, taking inspiration from the atmospheres of countries boasting ancient cultural roots (Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Yemen, Oman and Tunisia): places pervaded by great energy, places where differences in shapes are at their climax. This exhibition is part of the initiative GenovaFotografia.
Info: +39 010 5574963
