An ecological reflection on the radical changes Venice is going through.
Between the 16th and 18th century, every Venetian guild kept its own mariegola: a register listing the names of its members and the statute of rules and customs through which the community governed its shared life. Mariegola, edited by Chiara Fiamengo with Barena Bianca, Fulvia Larena and Tocia! Cucina e Comunità, takes up this historic form to draw up a new kind of statute, one that includes the more-than-human beings with whom Venice shares its waters. Conceived as a collective effort and a declaration of intent, the book questions the ecological changes reshaping the lagoon and its ecosystem. It moves the human gaze away from the centre to make room for the other presences that now inhabit and transform the lagoon and the lives of those who live there. The leading roles go to the Manila clam, the oyster, the blue crab and algae, each a witness to a rapidly changing lagoon ecosystem. Illustrated by Giuseppe Abate and accompanied by marginal notes that echo the structure of the ancient mariegole, the book is a first but significant step towards thinking ecologically about the radical changes Venice is going through, and about the forms of coexistence these changes demand: "An invitation to inhabit transformations without claiming to dominate them. An attempt to return to listening to the Lagoon, recognising it as a subject with whom to continually negotiate the conditions of our presence."
