'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.

Click here for radio interview with Peter Greenaway (source: BBC )

Download New York Times review here.

Press quotes:

"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.

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.

Peter Greenaway's next film "Nightwatching" is about the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn. Greenaway has written and directed the film.

The Nightwatching film premiere will be during the Venice Filmfestival 2007 (September 6).

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. 

Click here for the trailer video .
Click here for the Netwerk.TV special on Nightwatching & the art of VJ-ing .

Please click here for the synopsis of the film.

Note for the press: for more pressinfo please contact Nick Leese:

Recently awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in the New Year's honours list, outrageous and controversial, Peter Greenaway is one of cinema's great antagonists.  Here, produced by Dutch Visual Music label NoTV, Greenaway will challenge the 'tyrannies' of cinema as we know it with the UK premiere of his Tulse Luper VJ performance (OPTRONICA FESTIVAL).

Queen Elizabeth granted Peter Greenaway the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He will receive a medal and his new title in an official ceremony in March 2007.

On Friday June 17 2005 Peter Greenaway performed his first memorable VJ act. Utilizing a giant touchscreen control system he rocked the crowd in Amsterdam's VJ temple "11", blending his avantgarde cinematographic imagery (taken from the Tulse Luper Suitcases movie) with the heavy movie score remix by DJ Serge Dodwell a.k.a. Radar. With his outstanding cinematographic eye and energetic approach the "real time image conductor" Greenaway, assisted by VJs E202 and Robotfunk, has hereby set the pace in the toplevel international VJ scene.
Click here for more on Peter's VJ debut and some pictures.

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.