Arte e conflitto nell’era dell’estrattivismo crocieristico
ISBN
9788835193999
Type
book section
Date Issued
2026-06
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Antonio Paolo Russo
Salerno Giacomo-maria
Research Team
Italian Studies and Environmental Humanities
Abstract
This essay examines artistic activism in Venice as a response to cruise tourism and its extractive logics. Drawing on the concept of neo-extractivism developed in the Latin American context, I read Venice as a site of extraction where tourism operates not on raw materials but on the city's urbanity, natural environment, and social fabric. While the 2021 decree banning large cruise ships from the Giudecca canal remains largely ineffective, and cruise companies deploy sustainability discourse as greenwashing, activist art has emerged as a critical practice for articulating counter-imaginaries. Through the analysis of works by Gli Impresari, Banksy, Eleonora Sovrani, and Elena Mazzi, I argue that these artistic interventions operate on the plane of the imaginary and the sensible, engaging directly with the specificity of local ecosystems. Rather than reproducing the abstract and planetary framing of neoliberal environmental governance, these works visualize the material damage inflicted by extractive tourism and propose alternative ways of inhabiting the lagoon.
Abstract (De)
Dieser Aufsatz untersucht künstlerischen Aktivismus in Venedig als Reaktion auf den Kreuzfahrttourismus und seine extraktiven Logiken. Ausgehend vom Konzept des Neo-Extraktivismus, das im lateinamerikanischen Kontext entwickelt wurde, lese ich Venedig als einen Ort der Extraktion, an dem der Tourismus nicht auf Rohstoffe abzielt, sondern auf die Urbanität der Stadt, ihre natürliche Umwelt und ihr soziales Gefüge. Während das Dekret von 2021, das die Durchfahrt großer Kreuzfahrtschiffe durch den Giudecca-Kanal verbietet, weitgehend wirkungslos bleibt und Kreuzfahrtunternehmen Nachhaltigkeitsdiskurse als Greenwashing einsetzen, hat sich aktivistische Kunst als kritische Praxis zur Artikulation von Gegen-Imaginären herausgebildet. Durch die Analyse von Werken von Gli Impresari, Banksy, Eleonora Sovrani und Elena Mazzi argumentiere ich, dass diese künstlerischen Interventionen auf der Ebene des Imaginären und des Sinnlichen operieren und sich direkt mit der Spezifik lokaler Ökosysteme auseinandersetzen. Anstatt den abstrakten und planetaren Rahmen neoliberaler Umweltgovernance zu reproduzieren, visualisieren diese Arbeiten die materiellen Schäden des extraktiven Tourismus und schlagen alternative Weisen vor, die Lagune zu bewohnen.
Abstract (Fr)
Cet essai examine l'activisme artistique à Venise comme réponse au tourisme de croisière et à ses logiques extractives. À partir du concept de néo-extractivisme développé dans le contexte latino-américain, je lis Venise comme un site d'extraction où le tourisme opère non pas sur des matières premières, mais sur l'urbanité de la ville, son environnement naturel et son tissu social. Alors que le décret de 2021 interdisant le passage des grands navires de croisière dans le canal de la Giudecca reste largement inefficace et que les compagnies de croisière déploient le discours de la durabilité comme stratégie de greenwashing, l'art activiste a émergé comme une pratique critique pour articuler des contre-imaginaires. À travers l'analyse d'œuvres de Gli Impresari, Banksy, Eleonora Sovrani et Elena Mazzi, je soutiens que ces interventions artistiques opèrent sur le plan de l'imaginaire et du sensible, en s'engageant directement avec la spécificité des écosystèmes locaux. Plutôt que de reproduire le cadrage abstrait et planétaire de la gouvernance environnementale néolibérale, ces œuvres visualisent les dommages matériels infligés par le tourisme extractif et proposent des manières alternatives d'habiter la lagune.
Language
Italian
Keywords
venezia
venice
mass tourism
extractivism
tourist economies
art activism
activist art
environmental humanities
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Book title
Geografie critiche del turismo a Venezia
Publisher
FrancoAngeli
Publisher place
Milan
Subject(s)
Division(s)
References
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