Operation bowler ws report

REcall

operation bowler workshop Venice 9-13 September 2012 edited by Julia Heslop, Enrico Forestieri, Patrick Ronge Vinther

Operation Bowler

REcall Docs

REcall is a research project founded by EC Culture 2007-13 Programme (n. 2012 - 0927 / 001 - 001 CU7 COOP7) focused on the possible roles Museography can play when dealing with Difficult Heritage such as the ones coming from conflicts and wars. REcall wishes to envision new ways to the handling of Painful Places & Stories going behind any traditional approach: there is the need to shift from the ‘simply’ commemoration attitude to a more active involvement and participation of people in/with Places & Stories, through design strategies of ‘reappropriation’ (www.recall-project.polimi.it).

The views expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

REcall Consortium POLIMI-Politecnico di Milano - Coordinator - (Italy) AAU-Aalborg University (Denmark) NTUN-Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway) UNEW-Newcastle University (United Kingdom) Fasltad Museum, Falstad (Norway) Museo della Resistenza, Turin (Italy) Associated Partners Ergan Foundation Romsdal museet Routes Agency Snark Issued in November 2012 under Creative Commons: license CC BY SA 3.0

Operation Bowler

edited by Julia Heslop, Enrico Forestieri, Patrick Ronge Vinther

REcall Docs

THE STORY

Operation Bowler was the name of an attack on the Port of Venice in 1945. Extremely localised, it was seen as a grand success as it evaded the destruction of Venice’s historical buildings. The name ‘Operation Bowler’ referred to the threat imposed by the British air force that if any of Venice’s historical buildings got damaged in the bombings then the people responsible within the force would be ‘bowler-hatted’: asked to leave their position and once again become a civilian (going back to wearing a bowler hat). Allied propaganda promoted the bombings as a complete success although twenty-five people died as a result of the bombings, when a house collapsed in the centre of the neighbourhood of Santa Marta.

Provided material: http://www.recall-project.polimi.it/wp-content/uploads/5_ operation_bowler.zip

METHODOLOGY

We approached this project, without too much information on the operation.

First wishing to acquaint ourselves with the neighbourhood of Santa Marta, we walked around the neighbourhood, taking photos and saw the plaque commemorating the people that were lost in the house that collapsed. There was a market on in the square and we managed to get chatting to one of the elderly people of the community who recalled the bombing. This was the beginning of our process of recording and documenting the memories of the attack in 1945.

PROJECT

The crux of the project lay in the documentation that we took of the community’s memories of the bombing. From talking to the ex-gondoliers in the old people’s centre to our hunt for the lady who survived the bombed building in 1945, what emerged from these interviews was the memory of the sound of the bombing. Residents that weren’t in Santa Marta on that day still remember the sound vividly. From the initial sound of the bomb and the shockwave spreading across Venice to the sound of panes of glass smashing as the shockwave reached Piazzale Roma, the memory of these sounds seemed to be imprinted into people’s recollections. Initially we wanted to use the recordings from the interviews as a sound piece to be played in the central square where we witnessed the market on the first day, however this ended up being a little too complex. We then attempted to recreate the sound of the blast from the memories of the people who had been there and experienced this at the time. With limited resources and technical help we recorded this sound and played it in the neighbourhood of Santa Marta. The reactions of the community, both young and old, were then recorded, and used in a video documenting this research.

In a way the piece’s success lies not in the sound piece alone, it lies in the piece’s concluding ability to begin a dialogue within the community of Santa Marta. This dialogue was crossgenerational: whilst we were documenting the sound installation we got talking to people of all ages – from children playing football on the street to the old people of the community leaning out their windows wondering what was going on.

As a poignant conclusion, the last lady that we interviewed said something very significant.

She said that the bombing was hastily forgotten due to the war ending a few days later. She mentioned that although she lost some of her family members, she also learned to forget about the operation. Therefore, if what was really gained from the project was the creation of a dialogue, an awareness of the operation between different generations of residents in Santa Marta, and of course the opportunity for the old people of the community to recollect their memories, then this may be enough. It is this attempt to recall, learn and teach that is vital here.

See the presentation video: http://vimeo.com/50003317

Recalling memories by creating a dialogue with the people in the neighbourhood.

Plaque of The Operation Bowler situated where the bombings took place

“ I felt the blast of sound coming towards me, and the windows around me shattered “ Franco

“ People don’t know anything about the war - children don’t even know that there was a war. “ Romolo

“ All the people who followed me are still alive, while the others are dead “ Giulio, 94

REcall docs – operation bowler Published by Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Progettazione dell’Architettura © May 2013, The Authors

operation bowler REcall is a research project founded by EC Culture 2007-13 Programme focused on the possible roles Museography can play when dealing with Difficult Heritage such as the ones coming from conflicts and wars. REcall wishes to envision new ways to the handling of Painful Places & Stories going behind any traditional approach: there is the need to shift from the ‘simply’ commemoration attitude to a more active involvement and participation of people in/with Places & Stories, through design strategies of ‘reappropriation’ (www.recall-project.polimi.it). editors Enrico Forestieri obtained a Master Degree at the Politecnico di Milano in October 2011 with a post-environmental research about cyclical nomadism as a refined strategy of land resources management. I’ve been Visiting and Erasmus student at ETSAM (Madrid); and Erasmus student FAUTL (Lisboa).

Julia Heslop investigates how architecture and place are tied to prevailing ideology, revealing how this can be understood in a very visual sense. Her approach to this practice is multidisciplinary and is translated through different mediums, including sculpture and installation.

Patrick Ronge Vinther when resonating about high quality in architecture, believes that it evolves from the context in which it is placed, both geographically and historically, and maybe most importantly from being aware of its use.

REcall is a research project funded by EC Cluture 2007-13 Programme (n. 2012 - 0927 / 001 - 001 CU7 COOP7)

REcall