Venice seen from the sea acquires a completely different meaning: the historical ship belonged to the painter Giuseppe Zigaina, the Edipo Re, gives the visitor the chance to look at the lagoon city from an original point of view, away from the urge of modern tourism. Taking together the idea of a sustainable trip with the valorization of the territory, the crew of the Edipo Re proposes different itineraries between environment and culinary culture, which take the visitor to explore both the main island and the other less known destinations in the Venetian lagoon.

The artistic sail by Emilio Isgrò on the Edipo Re
Courtesy Edipo Re

With the beginning of the 79. Venice International Film Festival last August 2022 and with Pier Paolo Pasolini’s birth anniversary, who was a memorable Edipo Re guest, a particular sail was hoisted, drawn and executed by the Sicilian artist Emilio Isgrò. The sail was born from the collaboration between Edipo Re Impresa Sociale and The Venice Venice Hotel, with the intent to involve local excellences both from an artistic and culinary point of view. 

The inspiration for the sail (which will be substituted with a biennial cadence) is the dedication to Pasolini, which occurred in an almost natural way for Isgrò: the “cancellature”, a distinctive feature of the Sicilian artist, lead us to reflect on the reality of humans and their way of communicating. “The Edipo Re sail becomes the metaphor of a new world which has the necessity to exploit the wind of culture, to begin again and to move towards peace objectives rather than those of war and destruction”, affirmed Isgrò. The text that was submitted to the “cancellatura” is the “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles, from which Pasolini took flair for his homonymous movie in 1967. Two are the Greek words left visible, which stand out on the white sail: Oidipous turannos.

Detail of Emilio Isgrò work
Courtesy Edipo Re

With the idea to perpetuate the avant-gardist spirit of Venice, the Edipo Re reconciles its glorious past with a future to be discovered, between classic and continuous innovation, indulging in the rooted and cosmopolitan nature of the lagoon city.