In Venice, while the doors of a space were closed for the students of the now legendary Atelier F of the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, for a group of students, led by Daniele Capra and Nico Covre, the doors of the former Antares Pavilion in Marghera opened, Volcano Agency space. The result is a cultural project called: Extra Ordinary Workshop.

The Covid has shut down all over the place. What I’m going to tell you is a story about territory, art and, above all, painting.

Let’s start.

The two years of pandemic have torn and devoured entire artistic realities, only in Veneto have closed hundreds of cultural projects, and I think I was approximate. Many artists and, above all, students needed spaces where they could carry out their research, because, as we well know, we need places where the process of artistic research can continue despite everything.

The students of the Atelier F of the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice were evicted from the space in Marghera where they were based to work, finding themselves without a place to experiment their ideas. At this moment in history comes into play Daniele Capra, curator and critic of which I have already spoken in an online interview for “Juliet” a few months ago, and, together with Nico Covre, Artist and artistic director of the Vulcano Agency – a reality that for some time has paid attention to contemporary arts – find a space to be granted to these students: the former Antares Pavilion of the Vega Park, also in Marghera.

So, thanks to this intuition, the boys find an ideal location where they can continue their journey, and so was born Extra Ordinary Workshop. The idea is to give this place for a few months to a variable number of students and former students of Atelier F, allowing them all to work, do research, but above all to be able to compare with others and receive advice and tips from the mentor of Atelier F: professor Carlo Di Raco.

At the end of each period there will be a final exhibition, to frame the path of the participants of the Extra Ordinary Workshop. So far there have been two editions and there is a beautiful documentary that tells this journey with some extras such as interviews with the project curators, Daniele Capra and Nico Covre, All conducted with the support of Vulcano Agency and the approval of the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice.

The open day of the third edition will be held Saturday, October 22, in the presence of the artists, for a moment of sharing and to show how the space has turned into a place of work, relationship and experimentation. Visitors will be able to preview the results of the research conducted by the artists, thanks to an exhibition that recounts this new experience.

I have always admired those who, in times of crisis, find a way to overcome times of difficulty, and this project is undoubtedly an excellent example of resilience, both artistic and human.

You can visit Extra Ordinary Workshop every day, the final exhibition of the last edition will open its doors on October 24 and will remain open until November 11, by reservation at the email extra ordinario@vulcano.agency. If you want advice, go there before the opening, so you can talk to the artists in the venue and understand how fascinating and, at the same time, wonderful this journey is called painting.

Francesco Liggieri