Anyone following us since the origins of the prize may wonder why this ninth edition is not taking place in the natural headquarters of Venice. Those who know me and Michele know how much we love the city that hosts us, him by birth, me by choice; we love Trieste and its people and it seemed natural to us to dedicate this edition of the prize to the city and its sea, in an attempt to transmit to the artists the sensations that we experience regarding this magnificent city. Whilst looking forward to the tenth edition which, if it takes place, should celebrate a decade of friendship between the artists who have participated in the prize and all those who have wanted or won it, we thought we would transfer the prize headquarters to the city that for us means friendship; personally I think I have more friends here than in my city of birth, friends who have always participated in the exhibitions that we have organised at the Hotel Impero until now. Before now, in fact, we have organised many personal ones and a lovely collective show entitled “Landing in Trieste” that saw a total of sixteen artists staying in Trieste for a week and sharing what I tried to express a few lines earlier. They themselves were witnesses to what I am trying to say and those who are participating in this edition of the prize have succeeded in transposing these sensations to their work.

This year we have subdivided the prize into two sections, one for artists who have already participated in previous editions and one for those who are participating for the first time; the selection of prize-winners will be entrusted to their judgement, that is to say the old participants will select the new and vice versa, and from this selection the committee will award the prizes: it is a new formula that I hope will work, I trust the abilities of the artists and am certain that we will not come across an exchange of votes, but rather solid and sincere judgements. At the moment of writing this piece I have already seen all the works and I believe that I can confirm that the theme given has been developed with notable participation and with technical ability. I can assure you that aside from those who will be awarded the prizes this edition has seen the presentation of works of very high quality, so much so that the choice will be very difficult. I would like to personally thank all the participants for having grasped the importance of the theme, but above all for having understood what the sea represents in the history of Trieste: the attentive reader will not find it difficult to discover the way in which certain themes have been developed that are typical of Trieste. The Sea is Trieste and Trieste is the sea, a city on the sea that lives in the sea, a sea that is the city’s visiting card up to the moment in which one arrives there, a sea that accompanies us from Sistiana to San Bartolomeo and that reminds us at all times of the fact that Trieste is open to the world. That is the reason why we chose the theme and the reason why we chose Trieste as the location for the ninth edition of the Prize.

Bergamo, 9-10-2008

Giacomo Pellegrini

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