Q&A with Melissa McGill and Julia Felsenthal
May 9, 2020
Q&A with artist Melissa McGill and journalist Julia Felsenthal.
The Q&A followed the premier of the video "Melissa McGill: Red Regatta," by Giovanni Pellegrini, about the public art project Red Regatta, which activated Venice’s lagoon and canals with large-scale regattas of traditional vela al terzo sailboats hoisted with hand-painted red sails from May–September 2019.
It took place on Saturday, May 9, 2020 on Instagram Live.
The Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations, working in collaboration with Magazzino Italian Art Foundation and artist Melissa McGill, presented an exhibition of related and preparatory works to preview McGill’s latest project Red Regatta ahead of its debut in Venice.
Premiere of extended film on McGill’s public art project Red Regatta.
Red Regatta is an independent public art project created by artist Melissa McGill that will activate Venice’s lagoon and canals with large-scale regattas of traditional vela al terzo sailboats hoisted with hand-painted red sails. Unfolding in multiple parts from May through November 2019 over the duration of the 58th Venice Biennale, the Red Regatta convenes more than two hundred and fifty Venetian partners working closely with the artist, ranging from local sailors and artisans to art students, to present an unprecedented spectacle that calls awareness to the central issues that face Venice and its residents today: the displacement of local inhabitants due to the imminent threat of climate change and sea level rise and mass tourism to the region.