Venice Sustainability Foundation (VSF) sponsored Urbs Scripta 2025, Italy’s first festival dedicated to historical graffiti and the only one in Europe of its scope and variety. This year, the festival served as an official side event of the Sustainability Biennale 2025 organized by VSF.
Conceived as a six-day itinerant journey from May 14 to 19, the event explored and studied Venetian historical graffiti – a unique form of urban heritage spanning a millennium of history, from the 11th century to the post-WWII period. Through its layered urban fabric, Venice offered an unprecedented self-narrative, told through the marks etched into stone by travelers, merchants, and passersby over the centuries.
The program featured an official opening with historical presentations, a debate on city ownership between street artists and urban decorum associations, and a tactile experience tailored for visually impaired visitors. Participants also toured exhibitions including "The Lost Graffiti of Crete" and attended study sessions on Mediterranean graffiti, complemented by practical demonstrations in experimental archaeology. The itinerary spanned key sites starting from Sotoportego del Traghetto – Campo San Giovanni e Paolo, passing through San Servolo, San Lazzaro, and St. Mark’s Basilica, extending to the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.
Created by Alberto Toso Fei and Desi Marangon, the project involved Fondazione di Venezia, IVSLA, Venice International University (VIU), Ateneo Veneto, The Home of The Human Safety Net, the Scrovegni Chapel, and Fondazione Querini Stampalia.
