On Thursday, 19 December, the project “Panchine Animate – Seeds of Active Citizenship” was inaugurated in Venice. The initiative is promoted by the Municipality of Venice and was created through the collaboration between the Don Orione Centre, the social cooperative La Rosa Blu and the talented artist Manuele Boscolo, known as Manucomix.
Four parks in the city of Venice have been enhanced with 27 wooden benches painted in blue, pink, green, white and yellow, each featuring many different and playful expressions, designed to convey emotions such as anger, love, sadness and happiness.
This project is not only aimed at improving the functionality and appearance of the parks, but is first and foremost an initiative of social inclusion. The young people from the two cooperatives actively contributed to both the design and the creation of the benches, stimulating their creativity and fostering greater autonomy.
“A bench is also a symbol for us: it is a place where you stop and connect with others. It welcomes and recharges, just as our Centre has been doing for the past 52 years,” said Father Filippo Benetazzo, Director of the Don Orione Centre.
Panchine Animate is a perfect example of how art can break down barriers and create connections between people, regardless of their vulnerabilities. Each bench is a “seed” which, as also stated by Councillor Venturini, will grow into new initiatives and projects that will continue to bring colour to the city.
We at Finking were delighted to take part in the press conference held yesterday, 19 December, at Villa Bisacco Palazzi, the headquarters of the Don Orione Centre, for the presentation of the project.
