In this episode of Venice Talks, Monica sits down with Regina Maksimova and Alexandra Zagrebelnaia, the team behind Venice Art Insider, a platform created to help people discover and understand the extraordinary art world of Venice.

From historic masterpieces and museums to foundations, galleries, independent spaces and the Biennale, Venice Art Insider looks at the city as one vast cultural landscape. Regina and Alexandra explain how they select what to feature, how they build curated routes and how they help visitors navigate a city where art is quite literally everywhere.

The conversation also explores the relationship between art and place, the impact of the Biennale on Venice, the role of social media in the way we experience exhibitions and the challenge of making art accessible without oversimplifying it.

This is an episode about looking at Venice differently, slowing down and learning how to notice what is often hidden in plain sight.

• Who Regina and Alexandra are and how Venice Art Insider began
• Why Venice needed a clearer way to navigate its immense art scene
• How they choose exhibitions, museums, galleries and cultural spaces to feature
• The importance of connecting art with the neighbourhoods and architecture of Venice
• How the Biennale changes the city and what remains once it is over
• Discovering Venice beyond the major museums and famous masterpieces
• The different perspectives Regina and Alexandra bring to the project
• How social media is changing the way people discover and experience art
• Making art more accessible without losing depth or context
• How to approach Venice as one enormous, layered art experience

A conversation about art, Venice, discovery and the many layers of a city where masterpieces, galleries, museums and unexpected cultural spaces are waiting around almost every corner.

If you enjoy Venice Talks, follow the podcast and subscribe on your favourite platform so you never miss a new episode. And if you enjoyed this conversation, share it with someone who loves Venice, books and a good mystery.

Remember to follow and subscribe to Venice Talks so you never miss a new conversation with the people who make Venice the extraordinary, complex and endlessly fascinating city it is.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.

✨ Credits:

Hosted by Monica Cesarato

Produced by Monica Cesarato, Vivace Media

Guest: Regina Maksimova and Alexandra Zagrebelnaia from Venice Art Insider

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💌 Want to share your own Venice?

Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.

In this episode of Venice Talks, Monica sits down with Gregory Dowling, Philip Gwynne Jones and David Hewson, the three writers behind Venice Noir, Venice’s international festival dedicated to crime writing, noir and the darker side of storytelling.

What began as an ambitious literary idea has grown into a distinctive festival bringing together Italian and international authors, historians, journalists and readers in the heart of Venice.

We talk about how Venice Noir has evolved, how the programme is shaped, the relationship between Italian crime writing and the international noir scene and what happens when three crime writers have to agree on what actually belongs in a noir festival.

There is also plenty of discussion about growth, identity, literary festivals, dream guests and, inevitably, a little friendly disagreement.

Key Notes from This Episode

• How Venice Noir has evolved from an idea into an international literary festival
• The role of Italian authors within an international programme
• The relationship between Italian giallo and English-language crime fiction
• How Gregory, Philip and David choose writers, themes and events
• How broad the definition of “noir” can really become
• The festival’s relationship with the international crime-writing world
• What organising a literary festival teaches writers about being guests themselves
• How the three founders balance different tastes and ideas
• The challenges of growing while keeping the festival intimate
• The authors they would love to invite in the future

A conversation about books, murder, Venice and the dark literary creature that Gregory Dowling, Philip Gwynne Jones and David Hewson continue to shape year after year.

If you enjoy Venice Talks, follow the podcast and subscribe on your favourite platform so you never miss a new episode. And if you enjoyed this conversation, share it with someone who loves Venice, books and a good mystery.

Remember to follow and subscribe to Venice Talks so you never miss a new conversation with the people who make Venice the extraordinary, complex and endlessly fascinating city it is.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.

✨ Credits:

Hosted by Monica Cesarato

Produced by Monica Cesarato, Vivace Media

Guest: Gregory Dowling, Philip Gwynne Jones and David Hewson From Venice Noir

If you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.

💌 Want to share your own Venice?

Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.

In this episode of Venice Talks, Monica speaks with Simon and Jess from The History of Venice Podcast about the women who lived, worked and helped shape Venice across the centuries.

Moving beyond the better-known stories of noblewomen and courtesans, the conversation explores what everyday life was really like for Venetian women from different levels of society. From work and family life to money, independence, marriage and social expectations, Simon and Jess bring to light the stories of women whose contribution to Venice has often remained in the background.

The episode also looks at lesser-known female figures, the kinds of jobs women carried out and what historical records can reveal about their lives. A fascinating journey into another side of Venetian history: the city seen through the experiences of its women.

• Simon and Jess from The History of Venice Podcast on telling the story of Venice through the people who lived it.
• Lesser-known women whose stories deserve a place alongside Venice’s more famous female figures.
• What everyday life looked like for women from different social classes.
• The jobs and trades carried out by Venetian women.
• Women as artisans, shopkeepers, servants, market sellers and workers.
• Money, property and the economic independence available to women.
• Marriage, widowhood and the options open to women outside traditional family structures.
• The differences between the lives of noblewomen and working women.
• Women from Venice’s different communities and backgrounds.
• What archives, legal records and other historical sources can tell us about women’s lives.
• How women contributed to the economic and social life of the Venetian Republic.
• Why so many of these stories have remained less visible in traditional accounts of Venetian history.

Tune in for a journey beyond the familiar names and discover the women whose work, choices and everyday lives were part of the fabric of Venice.

Listen now and subscribe to Venice Talks for more stories about Venice, its history, its people and its culture.

And remember to follow and subscribe to Venice Talks so you never miss a new conversation with the people who make Venice the extraordinary, complex and endlessly fascinating city it is.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.

✨ Credits:

Hosted by Monica Cesarato

Produced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire Media

Guest: Simon & Jess from History of Venice Podcast

If you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.

💌 Want to share your own Venice?

Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.