Venice, it's an emergency at Querini Stampalia. So many publications submerged, Foundation needs help

The Querini Stampalia Foundation, as we confirmed in the early afternoon, is among the cultural institutions most affected by the tide that flooded Venice on the night of November 12-13. Official sources at the Foundation confirm extensive damage to the entire ground floor: in particular, water reached the Scarpa Area, the Auditorium, the book deposits, the bookshop and the cafeteria. No damage, however, was done to the art collections, which, as in almost all Venetian museums, are located on the upper floors. The worst hit is the library holdings: 35 linear meters of miscellanies from the late 19th century require urgent restoration as they were affected by the force of the water, and a further 600 linear meters of modern library publications and periodicals were submerged by the water, which were stored partly in Palazzo Querini Stampalia, the headquarters of the Foundation (near Santa Maria Formosa, and a short walk from St. Mark’s), and partly in external storage rooms but also located in the historic center of Venice.

Some of the facilities are out of use as well as the elevators, there is heavy damage to the cafeteria-restaurant, there were large losses of printed publications and design objects that were in the bookshop area, also the furniture on the ground floor was heavily damaged. The Scarpa Area was affected to the point that it was no longer suitable to host the important exhibition Luigi Pericle (1916-2001)_Beyond the visible, which was scheduled to close on November 24: it was decided for an early closure.

Many volunteers, mainly students, have already set to work cleaning up the affected areas, but the damage is very extensive: it is too early to quantify it economically and in detail, but estimates speak of many tens of thousands of euros. The director of the Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Marigusta Lazzari, comments on the incident as follows: “In the last thirty years, hundreds of thousands of euros have been spent on restoration work that has secured the structure from high waters, up to a height of 160 centimeters. Targeted and daily actions to reduce expenses seem to have been thwarted by this dramatic event, and it is with great bitterness that we have to record that this will severely affect the structure in the near future.”

The Foundation therefore needs help: anyone who wants to donate can do so through the Querini Stampalia Foundation’s current account, IBAN IT 76 O 010 0502 0000 0000 0032 500, specifying Acqua alta_12 November 2019 as the reason for the donation. Below are some photos of the flood-affected Querini Stampalia and volunteers at work.

Venice, it's an emergency at Querini Stampalia. So many publications submerged, Foundation needs help

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