The ‘Garden Giants’ event, held in September at the AWAI Cultural Association, was organised as a continuation of the ‘Giants of the Lagoon’ project, enhancing the work of the students involved, and creating a bridge with the next set of scholastic activities for the 2023/24 period. It was also an occasion for a preliminary meeting between WL artist-in-residence Claudio Beorchia and the local community. Specifically for this event, Claudio Beorchia designed a colouring-in puzzle-based activity inspired by the barena restoration activities.
Students and teachers who participated in the 2023 “Giants of the Lagoon” project were invited to the event, as well aso teachers from other schools, the friends of Awai, participants of the Ondew project from the Venetian Bangladeshi community, WahV supporters and the general public. In addition to a press release, postcard invitations were distributed in shops and cafes in five languages (Bangla, Chinese, English, Italian, Spanish).
The visitors were guided through the garden installation with a short introduction to the exhibition and the project “Giants of the Lagoon”, as well as being invited to take part in the games conceived by Claudio Beorchia.
Participation was ongoing throughout the afternoon, with excellent feedback and new connections with people of all ages interested in the theme, keen to stay involved in WL, and enthusiastic about playing the game.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101036484 (WaterLANDS). This output reflects the views of the authors and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.