Ca’ Venezia

Robert Eric Shoemaker
2021

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“From his shrouded castle screams the unheard ‘AVANTI!’ of the Mayor. The curtain rises…”

Venice: Queen Regent of the Adriatic, crumbling edifice to empire, tourist trap, and bellwether for climate change. This Italian city has long been the subject of Romantic dreams, the place to lose oneself in the maze-like charm of a floating village made of gondolas and small plates. But what sort of characters live beneath the surface of the canals — or in those crumbling buildings?

Ca’ Venezia is an artists’ book installment in a much larger interdisciplinary project on Venice, artistry, tourism, and climate change, all based on a research trip funded by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

Ca’ Venezia questions those who live in the Ca’, or house, of Venice today. From tourists to artisans, glass maestri to movie stars, this innovative, illustrated book of journalism and poetry juxtaposes the inhabitants of today’s Venice just as it melds text, image, and texture.

Poet and journalist Robert Eric Shoemaker crafts a unique narrative experience, immersive and fluid like the rising tide itself. Ca’ Venezia is a memorable eco-poetic take on hubris and enterprise; a tale of humanity on the edge of the abyss.