Lorenzo Quinn’s amazing hand sculptures create a roof of ‘friendship’ above one of the docks by Venice’s Historic Shipyard, known as The Arsenale.

Lorenzo Quinn’s ‘Building Bridges’ at Arsenale, Venezia

Following the success of Le Mani ‘The Hands’ at the 2017 Biennale, Lorenzo Quinn is back in Venice for the 2019 Biennale with ‘Building Bridges’. This time however his famous hands are located beyond The Arsenale. It’s a long walk or boat ride for visitors from Piazzale Roma or the train station to the part of Venice known as Castello, where the hands are strategically positioned above a former dry dock.

Is it worth the journey? Yes, in my opinion it is – the hands represent empathy, unity, kindness and collaboration. The title of the work ‘Building Bridges’ is important in this confrontational world that we live in. It is an invitation to respect our fellow global citizens, to focus on similarity rather than difference. For me the sculpture is a necessary message to all of us, to respect and honour those around us, regardless of race or religion.

This morning when I visited, the whole area was a building site, as numerous people scurried about putting the finishing touches to Venice’s ‘Salone Nautica’ Boat Show, which runs from today until the weekend 18-23 June, 2019.

The boat show features a range of impossibly expensive boats available to purchase if you have a spare million or two. There is also a series of exhibits in the recently renovated warehouses, the one that caught my eye was a simple display of traditional wooden hulled Venetian boats, including the famous gondola!

Definitely worth a look!

For more articles on Lorenzo Quinn type his name into the search bar of my blog: www.educated-traveller.com

OR why not investigate my others articles at:

• Lorenzo Quinn, sculptor
• Venice – Lorenzo Quinn, Damien Hirst and Modern Art

18th June, 2019

Although Mr Quinn is definitely right – the canal next to Museo Storico Navale would have been a much better location!

Updated: 23-10-2019

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