Arsenale Water Show Terra Incognita – The Amazing Journey of Marco
After the success of the 2022 and 2023 editions, the Arsenal reaffirms itself as the protagonist of an extraordinary and thrilling water spectacle: ‘Terra Incognita. The Amazing Journey of Marco’. The show will fill the waters of the Darsena Grande at the Arsenal with magic for approximately thirty minutes of spectacle, using a title that incorporates the cartographic term coined in use since the 1500s to denote unexplored parts of the globe.
A show that will bring back to life the journey of Marco Polo, the young Venetian merchant who is the protagonist of a journey to the East Lasted 24 years, beginning with his departure at the age of seventeen in search of new horizons and virgin lands, guided by his desire to explore the unknown, passing through his encounter with the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan until his return to Venice after twenty-four years of discoveries and inner journey.
It will be an imaginative tale emerging from the waters of the Arsenal, freely inspired by Marco Polo’s ‘Il Milione,’ and narrated in a fantastical key through various creative languages of art that, like Marco’s journey, knows no bounds. The natural stage of the Grand Dock is enhanced with a nighttime scenography of dancing fountains, lights, and videos created through the fusion of art and technology by Viorica Water Show, Antica Proietteria, and Moonlight.
Spectators will be able to enjoy the show in two performances at 6:30 PM and 9:00 PM on the days 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 February.
Tickets available for purchase on this page
The theme of Carnival 2024
On the 700th anniversary of the disappearance of the greatest explorer of all time, Venice dedicates the carnival festivities to its most illustrious citizen: Marco Polo, who passed away on January 8, 1324. An intriguing theme, titled “Ad Oriente. The Amazing Journey of Marco Polo”. The new edition is once again curated by Massimo Checchetto, artistic director and set designer of Teatro La Fenice.
His long journey to discover China will become the map of Carnival 2024, a fantastical journey that will lead visitors through the streets and squares animated by shows, music, and art. It will be an opportunity to retrace that unforgettable adventure that propelled Marco Polo on the Silk Road: the arrival at the court of the Great Khan and his detailed account that has reached us through the pages of the memoir ‘Il Milione,’ one of the masterpieces of world literature.
Characters and costumes
Fantastical worlds and distant flavors, like the journey in the 14th century that took Marco Polo from the Serenissima Republic to the court of the Great Khan in China. Marco Polo is a hero of his time,” says artistic director Massimo Checchetto, “who had the extraordinary fortune to witness incredible peoples and civilizations, like few did in his era. He departed by land towards unknown lands and returned to Venice by sea, gathering a vast amount of information, facing dangers and misadventures, meeting exceptional characters, and gaining access to a very exclusive world.
What is behind the 2024 theme. ‘To the East’ precisely recalls this exploration of everything beyond,” continues Cecchetto, “to the east of Venice and those lands of which there was awareness at the time. His firsthand experience blends with the imagination that, as a young person in the Middle Ages, with the information available to him at that time, he could have of the unknown world. The dreams of young Marco will illuminate dozens of streets, squares, alleys, and small squares The secret lies in emotions: in the face of the wonder of the unknown, we are the same now as seven hundred years ago
Arsenale Water Show – February 2, 3, and 4, and from February 8 to 13, 2024
Terra Incognita – The Amazing Journey of Marco.
Double appointment – at 6:30 PM and at 9:00 PM.
link page INFO TICKETS
Source: Official page of the Venice Carnival.
A production by Vela Spa for the Venice Carnival 2024
Fabrizio D’Oria, Operational Director by Vela spa
Artistic Direction Massimo Checchetto
Concept and Direction by Enrica Crivellaro
Text by Alberto Tosofei, liberamente ispirato a “Il Milione” di Marco Polo
Water Show edited by Viorica
Video e Sound Design edited by Antica Proietteria
Lighting Design edited by di Moonlight
The narrating voice of Gaetano Ruocco Guadagno
On stage:
Ilotopie
The East Dance Company – Association ICCTPA
Tancredi Blu Silla
Vela al Terzo
We thank for the collaboration the Marina Militare Italiana.
