100 supporters · €100 each. Help restore La Civetta, a 1960s Venetian boat, before the journey begins. Ten supporters drawn at random: one wins a signed mosaic, four win a 4-day Animal Portrait workshop, five win a 3-day Colours workshop in Venice, all ten discover Venice by boat with Romualdo.
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La Civetta has been with me for six years. A solid wood mascareta built in the 1960s, one of the last of her kind still on the water. Together we have covered thousands of kilometres across the Venetian lagoon, season after season, practising voga alla valesana, the ancient Venetian technique of rowing standing up with two crossed oars.
In November 2026, I will leave Venice aboard La Civetta for a solo journey of 500 kilometres, without an engine, through the historic waterways connecting the lagoons of north-eastern Italy since the Middle Ages. That journey has been in my head for years. It is now fixed.
Then, last winter, another boat collided with La Civetta at the quay. The impact heavily damaged the prow. If I leave her in this state, the wood will keep deteriorating, the hull will lose its integrity, and the boat will be lost over the coming months. The prow needs to be rebuilt before November by a traditional Venetian boatyard.
The cost is 10.000 euros. So I decided to do something I had never done before: ask 100 people to make this possible with me.
The damage is concentrated at the bow, which has been heavily damaged and needs a complete reconstruction. Without intervention, the wood will keep absorbing moisture, swell and crack, and the hull will lose its integrity over the coming months.
A traditional Venetian squero will carry out the full repair: hull work, wood treatment, waterproofing, and replacement of the damaged sections. Every stage will be documented and shared.
La Civetta, prow damage after collision, Venice 2025
Ten supporters will be drawn at random on 12 July 2026, live on Instagram, with an independent witness present. The first number drawn wins the mosaic. The next four each win a 4-day Animal Portrait workshop. The last five each win a 3-day Colours workshop. All in my Venice studio.
The Fox, in progress, Artefact Mosaic Studio, Venice
The Fox is certainly the mosaic that put Artefact Mosaic Studio on the map. Only two other versions exist besides this one. I've decided to make a fourth, in Murano smalti, using the contemporary technique of the Scuola di Spilimbergo, and to offer it to one of the supporters of this project, drawn at random. Same technique, same materials, same scale. Signed and numbered. Shipped worldwide at no cost to the winner.
Nine supporters each win a workshop at Venice Mosaic Classes, the school I run with Alessandra Di Gennaro in the Castello district of Venice.
Four × 4-day Animal Portrait workshop. Composition, rhythm, colour and orientation in the contemporary Spilimbergo method, with marble, Murano glass and mortar. The full path from sketch to finished portrait.
Five × 3-day Colours workshop. Mastering gradients and chromatic transitions, even with limited materials. The discipline behind every Venetian mosaic.
All materials and tools are provided. Teaching in English, French or Italian, in a group of no more than five students. Travel and accommodation in Venice are not included. The workshop is redeemable within 18 months of the draw, on a date agreed with the studio. Full programme details at venicemosaicclasses.com.
Whichever prize they win, all ten winners are invited to discover Venice from La Civetta with Romuald, the boat they helped save. A quiet morning or a sunset on the water, voga alla valesana, in a city you only really understand from the lagoon. Dates arranged personally with each winner after the November journey, spaced out over the months that follow.
The draw is held on 12 July 2026 regardless of how many supporters have joined. Every euro raised goes into the project, and what each threshold makes possible is fixed in advance.
Emergency prow repair at the squero. The boat is rowable for the journey, in a simplified solo format. Daily photo journal from the route.
Nine workshops added to the prize pool: four 4-day Animal Portrait workshops and five 3-day Colours workshops. Ten winners instead of six. Reached on 22 May.
Complete restoration: prow, hull, wood treatment, waterproofing. Video documentation of the journey, week-by-week digital diary, postcards from each stage sent to every supporter. Reached on 24 May.
5% of the total raised donated to Arzanà, the Venetian non-profit that has been restoring the last traditional boats of the lagoon since 1992. La Civetta is one of them. The journey gives something back to the lineage she belongs to.
In November 2026, La Civetta will leave Venice and follow the historic waterways that have connected the lagoons of north-eastern Italy since the Middle Ages, 500 kilometres, solo, standing, without an engine.
The route passes through landscapes rarely seen from the water: lagoons, rivers, canals, and stretches of open water that motorised boats cross in minutes and that oars take days.
Every stage of the journey will be documented and shared. The full story of the project, the preparation, the boat, the route, is at ilviaggiodellamascareta.com
Choose 1 to 5 places (maximum 5 per person, so that the chance of winning stays open to as many supporters as possible). After registration, you are taken to a secure SumUp payment page matching your chosen quantity. Your numbered place, between 001 and 100, is confirmed by email within 24 hours of payment, in strict order of receipt.
The draw takes place on 12 July 2026 in any case. Funds raised will go in priority order to the restoration of La Civetta. The journey will take place, in a form adapted to what you have made possible, see the four thresholds above.
If for any reason, health, weather, accident, Romuald cannot complete the journey himself, the ten prizes are still drawn and still honoured. The mosaic is produced and delivered, and the nine workshops still run, taught by Romuald at Venice Mosaic Classes. Your support is for the cultural project as a whole, not conditional on Romuald being on the boat in November.
Card declined, payment stuck, question about the project? Send a short message and Romualdo will reply within 24 hours.
This is a cultural project supported by 100 contributors. Each contributor receives, in addition to the documentation and progress updates of the project, a numbered entry into a single free draw offered by the artist among supporters. It is not a commercial lottery: the prize is offered as a gesture of gratitude within the framework of a cultural-patronage initiative under Italian law.