In the most iconic institutional place in the world, an exhibition celebrates the Italian Navy, its history, values, sailors, and its commitment to supporting the United Nations 2030 agenda dedicated to sustainable development. A place of honor is reserved to the Amerigo Vespucci, the training ship which will embark on a world tour sailing along the Pacific coast of the United States throughout the duration of the exhibit. From 5 to 14 June 2024, the Glass Palace, the United Nations Headquarters in New York, will host a very meaningful and prestigious exhibition which celebrates the history and values of the Italian Navy. The exhibition, entitled “Ocean Stories. The Italian Navy exhibition”, which will take place in the week of World Ocean Day (8 June), is co-organised by the Navy and the Permanent Representation of Italy to the UN. The multimedia and immersive exhibition itinerary, developed, produced and created by Magister Art, is devised as a story about the heterogeneous universe of the Navy, to involve and entertain a wider audience of people of different cultures, nations and ages.
Four themes run through the exhibit, which is opened by the “Ocean Planet” section focused on the Ocean as the only large sea and describing the Navy’s commitment to exploring, protecting and preserving it through its underwater dimension, scientific research and technological innovation. The section features video-photographic and infographic contents that illustrate the Ocean’s traits such as its size, its water volume, its depth, and protected percentage.
More content is devoted to documenting operations and activities where the Navy is actively involved in exploring, preserving, protecting and safeguarding the Ocean.
The section titled “Time” presents a path built through images capturing the rhythm of gestures and actions at sea. Photographs and videos show activities and operations of the Navy, from the boatswain’s whistling to the radar clutter, wind blowing, a vessel’s wake on the sea, a bell tinkling and ropes creaking, sounds that become a metronome marking life on board all ships.
A section devoted to the Amerigo Vespucci Training Ship lies at the core of the exhibit. In a historic meeting, the American aircraft carrier USS Independence labeled the Amerigo Vespucci the “most beautiful ship in the world”. Its sailing becomes a metaphor of a universal story: the vessel is not only an ambassador of Italy in the world, but it represents values such as equality between peoples, inclusion, education, training, solidarity and hospitality.
A virtual tour of the Amerigo Vespucci Training Ship is made possible thanks to a virtual three-dimensional reproduction created by the University of Florence. An almost five-meter-long model of the ship is also on display.
While the exhibit is open to the public, the Amerigo Vespucci will be sailing along the Pacific coast of the United States.
The exhibit is completed with a tribute to the Sailors leading, that is the great Navy crew, the single individuals that build its essence and enhance its human aspect. Through a mosaic of faces, a voice is given to the different professionals that make up the Navy, from naval professionals to aviators, engineers, on-board doctors, divers, submariners, raiders and young students who have just sailed off.
