This is the first of four forthcoming editions of Quaderni Veneziani—a seasonal publication beginning with Autumn Melancholia / Malinconia d’autunno.

As someone who grew up in Venice in the 1990s and has continued to return regularly, I hold mixed feelings about the city’s current condition. In Quaderni Veneziani, I seek to offer an alternative perspective on a city overcrowded by tourism and overexploited by some of its own inhabitants, interweaving my personal digital and analogue archives with other found visual materials. Venice remains a container of my most cherished childhood memories and a place that has embodied a sense of home.

The notebook format, as suggested by the title, alludes to the emotional and personal connection I maintain with a city that now appears more fragile than ever—threatened by financial speculation and the effects of climate change. Yet, beneath the surface, a form of quiet resistance endures: both long-term and newer inhabitants continue to nurture the desire to build something solid and enduring.