Venice Effect, 40th edition. “CREATIVE. What women tell us”

Over one hundred and sixty concerts, talks, special projects, music contests, recitals, seminars, street performances, and exhibitions, with a turnout of over one hundred and fifteen thousand visitors in five days. These are the numbers of the record-breaking 2024 edition of Effetto Venezia, the first edition signed by the singer-songwriter Grazia Di Michele, confirmed in early December by Mayor Luca Salvetti at the helm of the fortieth edition of the event.

After “World Music”, a new theme and a rich program are announced for this year’s edition, which will take place in Livorno from Wednesday, July 30th to Sunday, August 3rd. The title will be CREATIVE – What women tell us, a subtitle that refers to the well-known song by Fiorella Mannoia “What women don’t say”. Celebrated in all its forms, at the center of this edition of Effetto Venezia will be female creativity: an inexhaustible drive for music and dance, literature and visual arts, theater, crafts, and every aspect of women’s artistic and professional life. This is the idea, shared with the mayor, on which the event will be based and whose organization will be entrusted, as usual, to the LEM Foundation.

The fortieth edition will see the presence of international artists and the involvement of local and non-local artistic subjects invited to present proposals adhering to the theme following the guidelines available on the Effetto Venezia website starting from February 6th. On this day, the artistic director will meet all Livorno creative sectors to better explain the event and ensure that it is animated by proposals in harmony with each other and with the theme. The scheduled meetings are: dance at 2:00 PM, singing at 4:00 PM, and theater at 6:00 PM.

Also on February 6th, Raffaele Paganini will be in Livorno. He will choreograph the opening show of Effetto Venezia 2024 and will lead a masterclass for dance school teachers in Livorno and three open classes for beginner, intermediate, and advanced students.

The mayor of Livorno, Luca Salvetti, states: “Effetto Venezia is turning 40 and to celebrate this event we had clear ideas from the start: confirmation of Grazia Di Michele as the artistic director of the most important summer event in Livorno, and the theme, which we intend to combine with the classic formula of Effetto Venezia and which puts the female world in the spotlight as a space to find high-level talents and artistic inspiration. The title ‘Creative’ was devised by Grazia di Michele and the subtitle by me, where I paraphrased the title of a song by Mannoia ‘What women don’t say’ to ‘What women tell us’.”

Grazia Di Michele explains the theme: “Creative people have their own mission, which is to open our minds, broaden the horizons of our experiences, the universe of our emotions, and, through artistic work, to manifest themselves. The 2025 edition of Effetto Venezia will be a feminine full immersion in which I expect to receive many proposals that – emphasizes the director – can also come from and involve male artists while maintaining the guiding theme that must inspire them. Many female artists and guests will be the protagonists of the five days of the event, including Livorno and local artists. Returning to Livorno – concludes Grazia Di Michele – means the joy of returning to work in a city that I am starting to feel like a second home, and to a project whose realization is supported by a very professional staff, that of the LEM Foundation.”

“For us Livornese people – emphasizes the councilor for culture Angela Rafanelli – Effetto Venezia is a must, an important event just as important it is to share it with people and personalities who are part of the national scene and who, by coming here, feel at home and find inspiration from our territory. A thanks to Grazia Di Michele because her return is a concrete manifestation of a bond that has been created. What I would like to convey – she added – is this appeal to local realities, which in Livorno are numerous, to participate abundantly without waiting for the call: this is the big call.”

The councilor for tourism and commerce, Rocco Garufo states: “As always, we also work to involve the entire local associative fabric and we will do the same, as far as commerce and local operators are concerned, so that this fortieth edition is a high-level event, as it has always been. The beauty of Effetto Venezia is that it has now become a brand that allows us to project Livorno’s beauty beyond our borders and therefore attract tourists.”

Adriano Tramonti of the LEM Foundation concludes: “As organizers of the event, at this moment we are in a detached position. As we get into the mechanism to fulfill the wishes of the artistic director, we will make more precise technical-logistic proposals. One that I can mention currently is the idea of a mobile stage in Piazza del Luogo Pio that enters and exits for open classes and duplicates, exclusively for dance, the fixed stage dedicated to international artists. The other locations will be the same as last year, with Piazza del Luogo Pio hosting international proposals.”