'The Wedding at Cana' is part of Peter Greenaway’s bold artistic project in which he intends to “visit” – with contemporary sensibility and employing cutting-edge image technology – “Nine classic paintings” among Western art history’s most renowned, from the Renaissance up to Picasso and Pollock. Launching his project with a vision of Rembrandt’s The Nightwatch at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (2006) and then with Leonardo’s The Last Supper in Milan(2008), Greenaway now “visits” The Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese at the Palladian Refectory on the San Giorgio Maggiore Island.
The Wedding at Cana facsimile, set in the original architectural context for which it had been conceived – the Palladian Refectory – offers Peter Greenaway the opportunity for an innovative and original interpretation via a state-of-the-art interplay of images, lighting, music, voices and sounds that will seem to emerge directly from the painting and the walls of the Refectory. The performance – a true multimedia event lasting about 50 minutes – makes spectators relive the episode of the marriage feast at Cana where Christ accomplished his first miracle, as narrated in the Gospel of John. Greenaway points out to the public the painting’s scores of characters, from the servants preparing dishes, to the banquet guests, to the guests of honor – Jesus Christ and his mother Mary – seated at the center of the painting’s architectural composition, in an on-going crescendo culminating in the narration’s crucial moment: the miracle of water turning into wine.
As with Leonardo’s The Last Supper, public will access the event in groups and at a specific time (every hour, on the hour) to share a unique and fascinating experience which – involving theater, art and moviemaking – places Peter Greenaway amongst the greatest artists who experiment unflaggingly with new means of expression for the new millennium.
"It is possibly the best unmanned art history lecture you’ll ever experience." nytimes.com, 25 June 2009
"This latest achievement indicates that he has gone beyond such binary positions to something genuinely new."
guardian.co.uk, 25 June 2009
"Equally mind-boggling is Peter Greenaway’s multiscreened filmic best-art-history-lesson-ever, for which he placed a full-scale replica of Paolo Veronese’s staggering The Wedding at Cana back in the location for which it was painted."
nymag.com, 19 June 2009
"VIRTUALLY MIRACULOUS: ATTENDING 'THE WEDDING AT CANA' "
culturekiosque.com, 25 June 2009
"... the best contemporary art exhibit on view in Venice..."
"I am not sure that it is worth the long flight just to visit Venice for the Biennale, but this work alone, with its layers of meaning, and all surrounding beauty is well worth the jet lag." artlife.blogspot.com
Venice, Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Palladian Refectory
Period: June 6 – August 2 / August 24 – September 13, 2009
Open to public every day on the hour from 11.00 am to 7.00 pm
(Thursday and Friday from 11.00 am to 9.00 pm) until September 12,
with a summer break from August 2 through August 24.
J'Accuse is an essayistic documentary in which Greenaway's fierce criticism of today's visual illiteracy is argued by means of a forensic search of Rembrandt's Nightwatch. Greenaway explains the background, the context, the conspiracy, the murder and the motives of all its 34 painted characters who have conspired to kill for their combined self-advantage. Greenaway leads us through Rembrandt's paintings into 17th century Amsterdam. He paints a world that is democratic in principle, but is almost entirely ruled by twelve families. The notion exists of these regents as charitable and compassionate beings. But reality was different.
Greenaway points out to the viewer all sorts of 'evidence' that can be found in the Nightwatch, but which no one ever noticed before. Just as in the acclaimed American show CSI, Greenaway knows how to make the evidence for the murder credible by basing his line of questioning on the facts: historical sources, comparisons with other works of art that contain a secret message and mainly by highlighting numerous details in the painting that were never noticed before or that were simply not correctly interpreted.
The documentary explains how and why The Nightwatch, Rembrandt's J'Accuse, is a criticism of Amsterdam's oligarchy and plutocracy of the Golden Age, a demonstration of the manipulative power of the visual image, and an indictment, which puts all the characters involved in a complex and devious conspiracy to murder. Greenaway himself plays the part of the public prosecutor, but is at the same time himself. In his 21st Century clothes he will interrogate characters from the movie Nightwatching, dressed in historical costumes on their part in the murder conspiracy.
International premiere: Pusan International Film Festival, South Korea, October 4, 2008.
In competition: Rome International Film Festival, October 23, 2008 (opening film of ‘L'Altro Cinema – EXTRA’).
Netherlands: IDFA Amsterdam, 22 November 2008.
Director: Peter Greenaway
Cast: Eva Birthistle, Jodhi May, Emily Holmes, Jonathan Holmes (II), Michael Teigen, Nathalie Press.
Genre: Feature Documentary
Year of Production: 2008
Language: English
Producer: Submarine
Co-producers: VPRO, WDR, ARTE France and YLE.
On the occasion of Saloni 2008, Peter Greenaway gives new life to the world’s most celebrated masterpiece "The Last Supper" by Leonardo Da Vinci, merging an extraordinary wealth of languages including visual arts, cinema, poetry, music and some of the most cutting-edge new technologies.
Leonardo’s masterpiece "The Last Supper" has survived both the fast natural ageing process caused by experimental painting techniques conceived by the artist and the many attempts to restore its initial aspect, as well as having outlasted bombings during World War II. The Biblical scene will come to new life under the spectator’s eyes thanks to live projections of images and light bouncing on the very painted surface, accompanied by a soundscape of voices, music and noises. The performance will take place in the Refectory of the Dominican Friary in Santa Maria delle Grazie Church: on the very wall of the refectory, Leonardo portrayed the moment when Christ announces one of the apostle will betray him, causing disruption and dismay among them.
Announcement: After succesful events in Gent (Belgium), Compton Verney Warwickshire (UK), Fort Asperen (The Netherlands) and Sao Paulo (Brasil) the Tulse Luper Suitcases Exhibition will now visit new places in the world in a 3 year tour (2008 - 2011).
92 suitcases In the exhibition Greenaway brings all the drama of cinema to life through objects, music, video and special effects. The exhibition will feature all 92 suitcases, natural and man-made, packed with amazing special effects and artefacts. A complete multi-media encyclopedia emerges through objects and audiovisual representations of all determining elements of life in the Atomic Age. Each exhibition will be made in a unique way for each museum/country, offering the audience through modern technology a unique peek into Luper's local findings during his travels.
The world according to Tulse Luper Luper was born in 1911 in Newport, South Wales and disappeared into ever more obscure prisons and jails in Russia and the Far East in the 1970s. He would have been 100 in 2011. In the last century, this extraordinary man archived his entire life in 92 suitcases. His life is shrouded in mystery, but it seems that Luper has been present at some of the key historical events of the 20th century, including the first nuclear tests in New Mexico, the 1968 Paris student protests and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Although Luper spent most of his life being a professional prisoner, he still managed to collect a large amount of objects and store them in suitcases. In a way, these suitcases represent the world according to Tulse Luper.
Tulse Luper is still presumed to be alive somewhere in the world - probably in a prison somewhere.
Luper’s fascination
As a writer, collector, cataloguer and professional list-maker Luper is fascinated by traces, systems, maps, numbers and artifacts. The exhibition explores the connections between objects, events and ideas, re-peopling the house and bringing the collections and building to life. At the heart of the exhibition is the collection of 92 suitcases that Luper has supposedly abandoned on his travels. Tickling all senses, their content can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted and felt, providing intriguing clues to his existence, his obsessions, the people he has met, and the places he has visited.
More information on the Tulse Luper project: click here .
Produed by The Netherlands' Kasander Film Company, Nightwatching is based around the painting of Rembrandt's most famous picture:"The Nightwatch".
The film was accompanied by a special installation that Greenaway designed for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It was shown next to the actual "Nightwatch" painting and casted some light on the characters portrayed in the famous work.
From October 12 2007 the inauguration takes place of the finalised tour of the restored Reggia of the Venaria Reale in Turin, one of the most significant examples of architectural magnificence and international Baroque art from the 17th and 18th century. An international exhibition entitled “The Reggia di Venaria and the Savoy Dynasty. History and magnificence of a European court”, with over 400 prestigious works from the major art and historical museums in the world; and “Repopulating the Reggia”, pageants created and presented by Peter Greenaway. Click here for video interview with Peter Greenaway.
The Tulse Luper Suitcases, a personal history of Uranium, is an on-going multi-media project by British filmmaker Peter Greenaway. It is manufactured as a series of feature films for the cinema, a television series, numerous DVDs, a Suitcases Exhibition , a live cinema VJ performance , a website, an online internet game, a library of 92 books, and various theatre events, exhibitions and installations. Click here for more information.
'The Wedding at Cana' is part of Peter Greenaway’s bold artistic project in which he intends to “visit” – with contemporary sensibility and employing cutting-edge image technology – “Nine classic paintings” among Western art history’s most renowned, from the Renaissance up to Picasso and Pollock. Launching his project with a vision of Rembrandt’s The Nightwatch at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (2006) and then with Leonardo’s The Last Supper in Milan(2008), Greenaway now “visits” The Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese at the Palladian Refectory on the San Giorgio Maggiore Island.
J'Accuse is an essayistic documentary in which Greenaway's fierce criticism of today's visual illiteracy is argued by means of a forensic search of Rembrandt's Nightwatch. Greenaway explains the background, the context, the conspiracy, the murder and the motives of all its 34 painted characters who have conspired to kill for their combined self-advantage. Greenaway leads us through Rembrandt's paintings into 17th century Amsterdam. He paints a world that is democratic in principle, but is almost entirely ruled by twelve families. The notion exists of these regents as charitable and compassionate beings. But reality was different.
On the occasion of Saloni 2008, Peter Greenaway gives new life to the world’s most celebrated masterpiece "The Last Supper" by Leonardo Da Vinci, merging an extraordinary wealth of languages including visual arts, cinema, poetry, music and some of the most cutting-edge new technologies.
Announcement: 