Lagoon of Venice, AD 1798. The Serenissima Republic has capitulated and, following the Treaty of Campoformio, Napoleon leaves the city to the Austrian troops commanded by Emperor Franz II of Habsburg. Sant'Erasmo is not an island yet: it is a lido, a stripe of land stretching out towards the sea separating the lagoon from the latter. The Habsburg army decides to militarise it and turn it into a defensive outpost. However, history takes its course and over the centuries Sant'Erasmo suddendly becomes an island, losing its strategic military function and becoming the city’s main source for fruit and vegetables, expolited that much to gain the name of "Garden of Venice"
The island is a little corner of paradise fallen on earth: abundance and fertility favoured its flourishing and prosperity. In 1970, more than 1,500 inhabitants can be found on the island, but those who govern the city and the region decide that, in order to protect the Lagoon from its rapid deterioration, it will no longer be possible to build new houses – freezing Venice, Sant'Erasmo and the whole lagoon in an eternal present incapable of being current. Thus, a long process of depopulation begins on the island, leading to the progressive abandonment of houses and agricultural activities. In 2100, human beings no longer live there: scythes, shovels, tractors...everything has been absorbeded into the powerful expansion of Nature.
In 1970, the mass tourism invades the calles of Venice threatening to upset the locals’ lives. The illuminated govern of the city decides to fight what seems to be an inappropriate future for Venice by promoting local heritages. Observing the unfortunate trend in the lagoon, the inhabitants of Sant’Erasmo collectively write a manifesto in order to protect their island and sustain an alternative style of life and production, which has to be signed by all those who wants to live there. Manifesto's pillars see the common care and management of both public and private areas, crops and fisheries. Seed banks, socio-cultural centres, self-sustainment activities, animal recoveries arise and monthly meetings are set up to administrate together the island. The result is the perfect balance between human and more-than-human beings.
Mussolini has reached the power in 1922. During his development project and reclaiming of Italy, he frequently visits Venice and its lagoon. In this occasions Mussolini has the opportunity to reckon Sant’Erasmo island’s great potential for local economy and sustainment. He therefore orders to build a bridge which links the island to the countryside aiming to favour trades and exchanges. As a major consequence, the high urbanization impacted on Sant’Erasmo’s wellness since many crops were destroyed and converted into cement and buildings. In the ‘80s, local farmers leave the island and some rich entrepreneurs invest to transform Sant’Erasmo in a sort of luxury enclave, letting it becoming a land of unpermitted constructions. A jungle of skyscrapers.
