40! The interstice between young and old (or so I like to tell myself). Venice! La Serenissima — A city of profound heritage that, for some, espouses bromides of beauty, but in truth possesses an unparalleled depth and breadth of what it means to be beautiful. And as beauty and truth go hand in hand, and since Oscar Wilde told us the truest form of truth is the gymnastic sort that is paradox, the Venice of today balances antiquity and modernity with dexterity and grace.
In the tendril-thin canals and “calli” between opposites, the harmony of identity flows. Like cities, we contain liminal spaces and as we age, we unveil new selves in those spaces. In the tensions betwixt our selves, we learn to become acrobats as we walk the tightrope of being and unbeing, of becoming and unbecoming — and, crucially, of “Unselfing” as Iris Murdoch termed our internal journey toward The Good and Universal Love — crossing bridge after bridge, connecting our many selves and disconnecting from who we no longer are over the liquid landscape of life.
Join me to Unmask Venice, as I unearth more of my Self through the gift of time. Let’s discover what lies behind — and all that is because of — the veneer of Venice. Here, where the past, the present, and the future are bridged, the borders between fantasy and factuality are blurred. Between possibility and reality lies the shadow. We will dance in the shadow. And our dancing will be the light. This is Venice. And this is Forty.
— RSVP —
— MASKS —
— ACCOMMODATION —
— EXPERIENCES —
WILL YOU WILL YOUR WAY TO VENICE? WILL YOU BE?
Please fill this form out completely, individually and separately, for each person listed on your invitation.
To the invitation to Natasha’s black-tie, masked ball on August 19, 2025…
WHO WILL YOU BE FOR ONE NIGHT? YOU CONTAIN MULTITUDES!
Venetian masks can be purchased from an array of places– from Amazon to etsy to Venice– and at a variety of price points. If you are feeling crafty, try making your own. Have fun with it!
Ca’Macana, Atelier Marega, and Marega Renzo Atelier are lovely Venetian options for online or in person purchase.
The Venetian masquerade mask has a rich history deeply intertwined with the Venetian Carnival and the Republic of Venice dating back to the medieval and Renaissance periods. Originally deployed for anonymity and freedom of expression, thus dissolving social boundaries and allowing for other aspects of the self to be revealed, Venetian Masks evolved from simple coverings to elaborate, artistic creations. Commedia dell’Arte masks date back to the second half of the sixteenth century and represent characters, ethnic traditions, professions and trades closely tied to the different cities of Italy, personified by professional actors in that ancient form of improvisational theater.
YOU DESERVE TO REST, AND TO REST BEAUTIFULLY…
The five-star Venice Venice Hotel is something achingly fresh for La Serenìssima. Art-filled and artful, with a bracingly contemporary style that sits in paradoxical harmony with the old-school splendour of its Grand Canal setting, everything about TVVH breathes the life of modern flair into a vivant antique soul. Find an unexpectedly avant-garde spa, atmospheric bedrooms with cinematic views, charming terrace breakfasts and a painstakingly curated collection of art and intrigue…
I’d love for you to stay The Venice Venice Hotel, whether for your entire stay in Venice, or for one our two nights around the main celebration.
To book, email events@venicevenice.com and mention that you are Natasha Nyanin’s guest for a special rate.
Here are some suggestions of other hotels of varying styles for sundry tastes that you may consider for your stay:
This glamorous five-star hotel on the edge of St Mark’s basin has a calm refinement that is entirely different from Venice's glitzy palazzo hotels.
Housed in Venice’s former stock exchange, with a gold-mosaic spa bath in the eaves and courtyard bistro at street level, this five-star hotel has a surprise on every floor.
NH Collection Venezia Grand Hotel Palazzo dei Dogi
Situated in one of the few remaining residential districts in Venice, this converted palazzo affords you old-world Venetian charm and easy access to a stretch of atmospheric and affordable local bars and restaurants.
Occupying an ancient Venetian palace just minutes from the Rialto Bridge, Hotel Al Ponte Mocenigo reproduces the evocative atmosphere of 18th century Venice without the premium prices.
WHERE WILL YOU GO? WHERE WILL YOU FLOW?
Calligraphy by Betti Soldi
VENICE: THE CREATIVE MELTING POT
“In the 16th century through the 18th century, Venice was a cultural melting pot, where art, music, and drama flourished. The far off empires that came to trade in its ports left behind pieces of their cultures, from exotic spices and patterned fabrics, to strains of melodies and the blueprints for elaborate mosaics. The artists and musicians who called Venice home absorbed these new ideas into their own works, which were then transported all over Western Europe through paintings, drawings, concertos, and operas. The distinctly Venetian works of this period reflect the city’s centuries-long reputation as a place of economic and cultural exchange.” In short, what we think about as “distinctly Venetian” is, in actuality, particularly multicultural and deeply diverse.
RILKE’S VENICE
“‘He had no house, no address where you could look for him, no home, no permanent residence, no office. He was always travelling around the world and no one, not even he himself, knew in advance where he would turn next…’* Rilke criss-crossed Europe; he visited Russia and sailed on the Nile; he was at much at ease in provincial Worpswede as in the metropolitan city of Paris or at a remote country seat in Bohemia. And over and over again, he went to Venice: St Mark’s Square and the Lido, the Doge’s Palace and the Grand Canal were his intimate friends. He visited the city ten times; the first was a weekend in March 1897, the last, in June and July 1920…Among the many places Rilke travelled to, Venice represented a special challenge, because no other European city has such a rich artistic tradition in such a small space — the city in its entirety is a synthesis of art forms…His texts [about Venice] offer none of the conventional images of La Serenissima as a city of decadence…Rilke is regarded as a poet of the inner world. No one has created inner spaces like him, using only words…that resist being deciphered. But Rilke does not ignore reality, at least not in his Venice poems…Rilke was not interested only in his own subjectivity. He wanted to penetrate to the essence of a city like Venice, behind the façades…Rilke neither created a new myth of Venice, nor perpetuated the old myth of decadence. In place a of a compact, unified image of the city, he bequeathed us a modern one…he reordered Venice into something new and more personal. We do not have to share his passion for Madonnas and his distaste for traditional trattoria [sic]. But we can learn from Rilke and his attitude to travel.”
Birgit Haustedt, Rilke’s Venice
*from Stefan Zweig’s The World of Yesterday