Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Disneyfication

Today, the Rialto Bridge along the Grand Canal and Venetian masks are claimed to be the "Disney" in the modern society of Venice.


Rialto Bridge
This bridge in Venice was designed by Antonio da Ponte and was completed in 1591, then eventually becoming one of the architectural icons in the city of Venice, Italy. In earlier times, Venice was built in a group of islands and it is unable to get to one side of the Grand Canal to the other. Originally there was just a bridge of boats to cross the Grand Canal and then many different bridges were constructed in Venice. The previous bridges that were built are made from wood and therefore it was decided to build a new bridge across the Grand Canal, this time in stone. That bridge then called 'Rialto Bridge'.

Today, the bridge have walkways that leads between rows of small shops and from the outer walkways you have a beautiful view of the Grand Canal which is the ideal spot to take some photos. Due to globalization over time, the Rialto Bridge is now a top and popular tourist attraction to visit and explore. The growth of tourism in the place leads to more tourism revenue earned and then more developments will take place in the area. The Rialto Bridge has also over-commercialized and the area have cater more to the demands of the tourists' needs.

http://www.hickerphoto.com/grand-canal-rialto-bridge-venice-12291-pictures.htm

The Venetian Mask
In the past, the mask is created on the idea for celebrating the carnival to hide their identity and social status so to enjoy themselves in the carnival. The masks have also helped to lessen the social tension in the city. It originally is simple and plain as the only intention to use it to hide their identity but eventually it became more elaborate. Now when we talked about Venice, people will tend to remember the Venetian masks that represent the country and city because they are beautiful and authentic.

Today, when tourists go for the carnival they are more interested to see the different Venetian masks than traditional performances. When there is a growth of tourism in Italy, it will attract more tourists to the carnival. In the modern society now, people tend to demand more and nicer things. For example, they will like to see more variety of beautiful masks that sold in the souvenir shop, then they will purchase them and join the carnival.

Tourism is to attract people to the country to travel and explore. It will tend to bring out the culture and traditions of the country when visiting to one country. We learn that culture, tradition and society have related links. So when traveling in the country, we will have contact with the locals and attraction. Therefore, we need to know their cultures and traditions well.

In every attraction or place, there will be a culture to let the visitors to understand the place. For example, the tour guide will explain the culture and traditions to you when you are visiting the Rialto Bridge in a tour group. There will be activities like boating at the Grand Canal as they are the tradition of the attraction. Then you will then remember the place by its culture and tradition activities.

Food are part of Italy culture, and they are commercialized to all over the world. Slowly, it becomes well-known that Italian cuisines are delicious. It does show the culture and traditions of the society there, The popular cuisines such as pizza and spaghetti.

There are also some event that use the culture to attract tourists and make earnings. For example, the Venice carnival which had a very old traditions, this interests the foreign and domestic tourists to visit the attractions. It also help to create awareness of this place as every year there will be news about the event. Then there will be more and more tourists coming in to Italy and the tourism receipts and tourist's arrival in Venice increased.

The video below is a commercial for Italy:

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Country well-known for?


Italy's culture, architecture, beautiful building and famous landscape is the one of the most popular in the world. It has 44 UNESCO World Heritage sites as a mark of the cultural and geographic richness of the nation. Italy is renowned on Renaissance style of architecture especially.

Food and wine are two important components for the Italians. This is because they love to eat and enjoy life, unlike country like Singapore living in pressure from work and and do not know how to stop and enjoy their food slowly. In Italy, their cuisine is famous and well-known all over the world and noted for its regional diversity abundance of difference in taste. For example, Italian pizza, pasta, cheeses, roasted meat, baked pastries and many more. Italian wine is the world's best and it produces more wine than any other country. As with food, the regional variety of wine is enormous. It is one of the great pleasures when traveling in Italy, to have the chance to taste the many local wine.

Italy is a happening country as every month they will have many different festivals and events to celebrate. They have many festivals because it based in it's traditions and history. If you are traveling to Italy, it is a best to experience their culture and attending the festivals. Their big festivals and events are Mostra del Cinema di Venezia, Carnevale and Regatta races.

Leisure Programmes

They can be festival, events, sports and recreational activities. Almost every month, there will be events and festival happening in Venice, Italy. There is an enormous amount of Venice sports available to visitors in the city and being only minutes away from many nearby towns, it has a wide range of activities to tempt all lovers of the outdoors.

In the January, there are events like Regatta delle Befane which held on 6 January and is the first of more than 100 regattas on the lagoon throughout the year.

Bacanal del Gnoco, a traditional masked procession in Verona, with masked balls held in town squares. Carnevale is probably the most major event held in Venice. Venetians wear spectacular costumes and masks during this week-long party in the run up to Ash Wednesday. These events are available during February.

At the 1st day of May, Festa della Sparesca, a regatta festival is held on the Cavillino in lagoon. In the 2nd week of May, there are festival of local wine in Cellore with many displays and exhibitions, that called Vapollicellore.

During June,
Biennale which the world's largest exhibition of contemporary art and runs every year. There are festivals like Regatta di Santi Giovanni e Paolo, a traditional sailing regatta in Carole and Sagra di San Pietro in Castello, a local festival includes music, drinking and eating at the steps of the church that used to be Venice's cathedral. Venezia Biennale, a major international exhibition of audio arts take place every even-numbered year in the Giardini Pubblici.
Venice Hosts The Historical Regatta Storica

In July, Festa del Redentore, the Feast of Redeemer is marked by a large regatta on the Grand Canal, and fireworks. The Opera Festival which is until September, is a festival of music, dance, drama and opera, in the Roman Arena and churches. There is also Shakespeare Festival to celebrates the works of this world-famous playwright.

Venice events in August,the Village Festivals which have many local summer festivals throughout Veneto, often including boat races and fireworks. Mostra del Cinema di Venezia that held at late August or early September, the large Venice International Film Festival is held annually.

In December, there is a Opera and ballet season at La Fenicee and Teatro Goldoni. During New Year's Eve, masses are celebrated in churches and traditionally. There are also many parties and general celebrations.


Indigenous people

The Indigenous group is the Italian citizen. Due to immigration, there are many people come from other part of the world to stay in Italy.

Culture

Art/Music

Venetian music has unique features compare to other Italian music. Venice, one of the great centers of Italian music and many Italy’s great and famous musicians from Venice, such as Antonio Vivaldi and Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni. For example, the national anthem was created by Antonio Vivaldi to celebrate Venetian victory for the battle with Turkey in 1716.
Opera helps to lay the
foundation of musical legacy and it is the combination of music and drama accompany with nice melodies by some string instruments. In the early times, the opera and chamber music was only served for the noble classes at that period and they were performed for the privileges audience in private session. In 1637, the first public opera house opened in Venice. It is also considered as the first European city to have opera open its door wide to the public. The opera house is called ‘ the Teatro San Cassiano’. As music is a heritage of the religious and culture of the city, therefore it showcases the uniqueness and characteristics of the city.

'Soothsayer's Recompense,' by internationally renowned surrealist Giorgio de Chirico.

Italy's immense artistic and cultural heritage is its greatest legacy. Over almost 3,000 years, the paintings, sculptures, mosaics, operas and work of literature for many artists, composers and writers helped shape and define western civilization. The art paintings of the famous artists from Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael, reflected about the history of Italy and trouble political situation in Italy. The different period shows the different artistic expression of the paintings.