Portrait of a pizza, Da wu's arrival, Regata Storica and Film Festival

This is what a bored intern does when confronted by the remnants of what was lunch a minute ago - tape it onto the glass window overlooking the courtyard of the palazzo and admire how the afternoon light filters through the patches of grease.

Yum.

Speaking of culinary pursuits, a recent discovery of soya-based gelato at Il Doge(modest selection inside the shop at Campo Santa Margherita) has got my asian lactose-intolerent bowels all revvvvved up with creamy delights of
Cioccolato al peperoncino, pistachio, and vanilla-riso... Rumour has it that an amazing gelateria has opened up at Mestre(mainland) and locals have proclaimed it the best ever. Address/Review to be confirmed upon pilgrimage.

Da Wu popped in yesterday after our initial surprise upon opening shop and discovering to our delight that a new performance in Little India has been added to the video loop, and other additions to the setup like banana trees arranged askew and an animation projection across the section of the floor where the steel cutout lies. It was great to finally meet the man behind the seminal 1980s artistic initiative The Artists Village, whose unassuming joviality belies his stature as a founding figure in Singaporean contemporary art practice. We had a discussion about his alma mater Goldsmiths College, where he had a classmate called Mark Wallinger, and critical dialogues/forums were recorded on tape and marked by tutors (instead of the now requisite essays/thesis). The same school today is plagued by encroaching institutionalisation and increasing student-teacher ratio, and it is hard not to romanticised its past glory.

Regata Storica, which is the annual gondolier race across the grand canal is on this sunday(first sunday of september). We are all psyched because
1)We get to close shop early (a cautionary measure by the Institute to prevent tourists from pilling into the balconies of the palazzo for a magnificent view of the race.
2)We get that magnificent view to ourselves! Some prosecco and good company... Perfecto!

Also, the end of the August heralds the start of the Venice Film Festival, where we, lowly interns, will attempt to wiggle our way into parties and openings in a bid to catch a glimpse of Woody's bald patch or Keira Knightley's bag of chicken bones. Wes Anderson is showing, and Taratino curating a Spaghetti Western retrospective... woohoo!

*Aparna is currently being interrogated by a flashy Dior-wrapped Argentinian who thinks this is the reception desk for palazzos in venezia 101, and that this little Indian girl is actually in the guise of a venetian real estate agent who can give house tours to other similar palazzos (in the same baroque interior style) at a very goot price! I have to rescue her.