In 1996 in this space the artist Donatella Bedello opened the Melori&Rosenberg Art Gallery, the first Contemporary Art Gallery in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice. In 28 years of activity, she has exhibited the artworks of some famous international artists, Luigi Rocca, Lucia Sarto e Fabio Colussi, to name just three, and presented to the public a long series of more or less emerging artists; she organized a long series of personal art exhibitions, both in the gallery and in other places of culture, co-operating with institutions and foundations (the Jewish Museum, the Church of San Salvador, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice, the Church of Sant’Antonio Abate in Udin, the Sala Civica Leonardo da Vinci in San Donà di Piave, the Caccamo Castle in Sicily, the Institutes of Italian Culture in Jerusalem and Haifa in Israel, the Museum of the Clock in Pesariis.

Moreover, she organized ambitious group exhibitions, As Time Goes By the latest in chronological order, which involved 30 artists from around the world. After 28 years of a honored career and a short break, the artistic soul of the place overbearingly returns in this new project: Ghetto Et Cetera. The management is curated by Alice and Klaudia, who, alongside and advised by Donatella, set up and host personal exhibitions within the space in the Ghetto but especially in this virtual space, aware of the importance of being present and usable even virtually.

The Ghetto of Venice was the first Jewish Ghetto to be founded in Europe in 1516: the Government of the Republic decided that all Jewish citizens should live in one area of the city. In this area stood the foundries, called “Geti” in Venetian dialect – hence the name Ghetto then used worldwide. The Ghetto was closed during the night, while guardians of Christian religion crossed the surrounding canals by boat to prevent any night escape: thus the first true ghetto of Europe was born.

The Jewish Ghetto of Venice consists of the Campo del Ghetto Nuovo, the Ghetto Vecchio and the Ghetto Novissimo.

In the Campo del Ghetto Nuovo there are the Jewish Museum, 2 Synagogues and the monument to the victims of the Shoah. In the Old Ghetto there are 3 Synagogues.

The Ghetto Novissimo was last annexed to cope with the increase in population, and is characterized by high houses divided into lower floors than the norm.

Would you like to be in venice and come to our gallery to see the current exhibition, but you are in other city and cannot reach us?

Now we can plan a video-visit: through a video-call you can see the artworks, even their details, thanks to our staff, which will also answer your questions on our art and services. Available through Whatsapp, Skype and Facetime.