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The location of ITS#FIVE
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July 07, 2006
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First it was the castle of San Giusto in 2002, on top of a hill overlooking the whole centre of Trieste. Then in 2003 it was Piazza Unità, the central square of the city facing the sea. For the third and fourth edition (2004 and 2005) we moved to the Old Docks of Trieste, in a huge storehouse on a pier, surrounded by the sea. Now take a pen and a map of the city. If you look at the locations of ITS throughout the years, mark them on a map and then draw a line from ITS#ONE to ITS#FOUR, you'll notice that it looks as if the event has been moving closer and closer to the sea to the point of almost leaving the city, just as if it were a big ship built on a hill, slowly transported down in the centre of town and to the sea, ready to cast off its moorings. ITS is not leaving Trieste at all though, and the fifth edition will be set in one of its most prestigious buildings on the seaside, newly restored and ready to welcome ITS#FIVE: The Olde Central Fish Market.
When it was built in 1913, architect Giorgio Polli had to solve 2 problems: satisfy all of the technical and hygienic needs of a fish market and maintain an affinity to the neoclassical buildings surrounding it, in order not to turn it into an eyesore. He therefore thought about giving it the structure of a basilica since it was the style of structure used for housing markets long before it was turned into a religious architectural style. Therefore it has a big central nave and 2 aisles divided by columns, and enormous windows were installed on the sides to avoid the feeling of a storehouse. It is therefore a very beautiful building considering of what it was meant for in the beginning. This is probably the reason why it is not a market anymore since Trieste town hall has decided to restore it to welcome events, art exhibitions as well as expositions of all kinds. Guess which will be the opening event?
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Even though we were more than happy and couldn't believe our ears when the mayor of Trieste said to us "would you like to have it as your location?" production and organisation of ITS#FIVE in this new space has been no easy ride. The building's restoration was finished just before our production team entered to start building the catwalk, stands and exposition set ups...it has been a real thrill, up until the last minute we didn't know if the building would have been finished in time for us or not. As frequently occurs with public works, the date of completion was postponed more than once, leaving us with the nightmare of having everything ready but no place to do it. It's like when your parents go on holiday and you organise the biggest party ever, then your parents call you on the phone saying the transmission blew in the family car and they are in a breakdown lorry on their way home. Got it? Allow me to say that hundreds of guests coming from all over the world for a 4 day event planned in every single detail is a bit bigger than a party when your parents are out of town...
We had to work really hard, call the people responsible for the restoration works dozens of times to ask them if the dealines would have been respected, obtain as much written guarantees as possible that they would have been finished in due time and think about possible alternative solutions in case (mass suicide, take the remaining money and escape to a remote country without extradition, etc...).
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But this was not the only difficulty we had. Other great news of ITS#FIVE is that it will have a teaser to another event happening after it: Andy Warhol's Timeboxes, probably the most important exhibition ever in Europe of the artist. The works of Andy Warhol will be gathered by theme in 5 big boxes (fashion, video, painting, sculpture and photography) and the guests of ITS will have the chance to visit the box containing the fashion works. It is obviously an incredible honour for us and a great treat for our guests Nevertheless this meant lots of added work to make it possible: finding an agreement between us and the organisers of the Warhol's exhibition concerning the distribution of space in the location hasn't been so easy since we both had our own necessities and the space is only one. Hours were spent to find a solution fitting both parties and in the end we made it.
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Entering the Olde Fish Market building and seeing ITS#FIVE brought to life will be special in any case for us. It has been a hard working year full of new challenges and new objectives, in which our capabilities were taken to the limit and beyond, and this new location has been one of the toughest tasks we faced. During this long and difficult year, some of us have discovered in themselves abilities they knew nothing of, some had a few nervous breakdowns and some have just worked hard and harder without even the time for thinking who they are or what was happening. When everything will be ready and ITS#FIVE will be about to begin, most probably all of us will take some time to wonder around the location thinking: "my, aren't we crazy..."
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