Navigating the Venice Archipelago. Lagoon Stories for Sustainable Futures is an interactive multimedia exhibit developed by Venice International University in collaboration with the University of Padua and is displayed in the Italian pavilion at Osaka Expo 2025.
Visitors engage with the immersive exhibit using a large touch screen to explore the history of the city and its lagoon, choosing different thematic itineraries: water and food, public health, city defense, religious settlements, historic ceremonies and festivities, and sustainability in the present day.
VIU is also participating in the Pavilion of the Holy See with the project “The Silent Echoes of a Great Sound Sculpture - The Campanone of St. Peter”, the sound installation by the master of sound art Bill Fontana. This experiment, promoted by VIU and created by the American artist Bill Fontana, will allow the hidden voice of the Bell of St. Peter’s to be heard in the Pavilion of the Holy See. Thanks to state-of-the-art sensors and a sophisticated audio system, the internal – absolutely imperceptible – vibrations of the bell have been captured, amplified, and transformed into this “sound sculpture”. The Project was created with the support of Enel, Gruppo FS Italiane and Meyer Sound.
With these two contributions in the Italian Pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025, Venice International University confirms its commitment to promoting cultural dialogue, sustainability and interdisciplinary research, amplifying the image of Venice and the Italian heritage in the international panorama. The events are part of VIU’s celebration of its 30th anniversary in 2025, which includes a series of initiatives in the fields of art, architecture and music since the beginning of the year.
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Expo 2025 Osaka will take place from 13 April to 13 October on the artificial island of Yumeshima, in the bay of the Japanese city. The theme of the Exposition, “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”, invites us to build a more equitable and sustainable future together, placing quality of life and the active role of individuals at the centre.
The Italian Pavilion, of which Ambassador Mario Vattani is the Commissioner General, was designed by architect Mario Cucinella. Over the next six months, it will showcase the urban, artistic and cultural identity of our country with a special focus on Venice in the first week of its opening, underlining its character as the oldest “Smart City” in the world, an exceptional model of virtuous interaction between man and the environment.
Navigating the Venice Archipelago. Lagoon Stories for Sustainable Futures
Multimedia Project
Under the patronage of
- Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
- Department of Cultural Heritage: archaeology, history of art, cinema and music (DBC) of the University of Padua
- Venice International University
Curated by
- Ludovica Galeazzo (University of Padua)
Principal Investigator of the VeNiss project (ERC-2021-StG, G.A. n. 101040474)
Scientific Committee
- Donatella Calabi (Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti)
- Umberto Vattani (Venice International University)
- Jacopo Bonetto (Università degli Studi di Padova)
- Gianmario Guidarelli (Università degli Studi di Padova)
- Deborah Howard (University of Cambridge)
- Andrea Rinaldo (Università degli Studi di Padova; Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti)
- Elena Svalduz (Università degli Studi di Padova)
- Francesco Vallerani (Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia)
- Stefano Zaggia (Università degli Studi di Padova)
Scientific Consultants
- Salvatore Alongi (Archivio di Stato di Venezia)
- Andrea Bellieni (Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia)
- Davide Busato (Arcomai Studio Associato)
- Giovanni Caniato (Istituto italiano di archeologia e etnologia navale)
- Giorgia Fazzini (Ecomuseo dei Lazzaretti Veneziani)
- Stefania Piersanti (Archivio di Stato di Venezia)
- Chiara Squarcina (Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia)
Research Group at the Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Padua
- Gianlorenzo Dellabartola
- Simone Fatuzzo
- Martina Massaro
- Federico Panarotto
Research Group at Venice International University
- Ilda Mannino
- Carmelo Marabello
Multimedia and Exhibition Design
a cura di camerAnebbia
- Marco Barsottini
- Lorenzo Sarti
- Matteo Tora Cellini
with
- Paolo Baschera
- Giorgia Caiozzo
- Federico Campagnello
- Giacomo Colombo
- Matteo Crotta
- Andrea Martinelli
- Filippo Morawetz
- Michelle Pan
- Mirco Sturlese
Photographic Design
- Roberta Orio
The Silent Echoes of a Great Sound Sculpture - The Campanone of St. Peter, by Bill Fontana
curated by Umberto Vattani and Valentino Catricalà.
Project conceived by the President of VIU, Umberto Vattani,
promoted by VIU with the support of Enel, Gruppo FS Italiane, and Meyer Sound
A catalogue of the project, published by Treccani, will be available at the Holy See Pavilion.
