SUSTAINABILITY AND ART, AN EVOLVING TRANSFORMATION

Contarina has always been committed to the culture of sustainability and is constantly disseminating and promoting environmental education and sustainable development projects. Suffice it to say that the company started carrying out its first interventions in schools in the early 2000s.  Over the years, the development of these activities and topics has diversified and expanded thanks to new challenges and collaborations. This is what also happened with the ARS – Arte Reuse Sustainability Prize and the collaboration born in 2020 with Arte Laguna Prize. Created in 2016, as part of the already well-known International Competition of Contemporary Art and Design organised by the MoCA (Modern & Contemporary Art) Cultural Association, the ARS Special Prize was created with the precise aim of getting the local and international community interested in environmental issues and to reward sustainable, original and creative art. The special section of the competition dedicated to Sustainability and Art was realised in collaboration with Ca’ Foscari University in Venice and with the recognition of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea.

In the course of this collaboration, several works have stood out for their particular reflection on the use of resources and the use of waste materials, highlighting how the dialogue between Art and Sustainability is indeed capable of bringing together and involving a wide audience in major global issues, such as environmental impact and social inclusion. In particular, drawing on several editions of the award, Contarina selected a series of works that have become the protagonists of a campaign to raise awareness of the value of materials and resources and the importance of their use and reuse. A material, even a waste material, can have a second life full of new meanings: old sheets of recovered paper, ropes and salvaged wood from the restoration of the Certosa di Venezia urban park, coffee cans and capsules, recycled plastic recovered from the beaches of the Adriatic Sea, clothes and garments that are no longer worn, the scraps of cork decortication. Thanks to the creative universe and language of each individual artist, these subjects have been transformed into valuable works of art that prompt the viewer to reflect on the development and consumption patterns of today’s society. This gave rise to Contarina’s message “WE BELIEVE IN TRANSFORMATION“, which explains how “With an eye to the future of the planet, we work in our territory to transform materials into new resources and make the new era of the circular economy a reality.” A marvellous tale in images that emphasises the importance of artistic expression and creativity to convey social, ethical and cultural values.