THE ARSENALIA ARGONAUTS: an Urban Game

Venti di Cultura has elaborated and

presented the board game Arsenalia. Now, to enlarge the audience of local participants, VdC decided to translate the plot in to an urban game, with the help of Marisa Convento who has used the experience of her «Impiraresse treasure hunt» in to the Arsenale compound and community.

Imagine a group of players in search of a hidden treasure, each player impersonating a different character and role then slowly approaching to a common ground of understanding. A complicated pattern in the fabric of the plot: different stories, various historical periods, peculiar lives, but woven together like warps and wefts of a timeless, precious, silk and gold Venetian brocade.

And then imagine a path, a spiritual journey, through the areas of Venice where the caulkers, the carpenters and the glass bead stringers used to live and work, at the sides of the walled Arsenale of Venice, the secluded ship building district of Venice, in the secret insides and out of it.

The key to unravel the mystery is like a mirror: a time portal switch capable of transporting the player from one space and time dimension to another, solving an enigma after the other, in order to find the missing part, the lost element that brings back together the full picture, the whole vision of what could be the possible future shape, containing the heritage of Venice to be left in the hands of the next generations.

The urban game “Arsenalia Argonauts” will be lead along a written itinerary guided by directions and questions to be answered, evidences to be found, tools to be used, instructions to be followed, enigmas to be solved. In the mirroring waters of the Castello quay canals, and the still waters of the Arsenal basins.

Time, space, past lives, spirits and Venetian genius loci will mix in an ever changing scenario where everything is possible and, with the rising and descending tide embracing the lagoon, the faiths of Adriatic and Mediterranean people fall infused and blended in the salted sea waters.

We invite you to follow us for an unforgettable experience that will change your entire vision of the millenary beauty of Venice.

We will play together the Arsenalia urban game next May.