Anna Campagnari

Anaréta

Textile painter

©Susanna Pozzoli2024

Flags and gonfalons of the Republic of Venice

Anna has saved a centuries-old craft from extinction
She fights to preserve the cultural heritage of the lagoon
She is a Venetian regatta racer and champion oarswoman

Anna Campagnari graduated from Venice’s School of Art, and from the age of 18 took part in Venetian rowing regattas. This was the start of a brilliant sports career that led her to win the Venice Historical Regatta four times. In 2009, when she opened her workshop in Palazzetto Falier to make the gonfalons and flags awarded as regatta prizes, she put her experience as a rower to good use, along with her artistic talents. Anna oversees every stage, from cutting the fabric and stitching, to drawing and painting the details on by hand. She also creates the pole and ferrule, the cords, hooks, tassels and fringes of her flags and banners. Heraldic objects and textiles are a niche form of craftsmanship that found in Anaréta, as Anna is known, an heiress of the lagoon.

Interview

How did you get started?: When Mr. De Cal first announced he would no longer be making the red, white, green and blue flags awarded as prizes at rowing regattas, I thought that Venice’s historic sport should not be left without its equally time-honoured prizes.
Where do you receive the orders from?: There is a great deal of interest abroad as well as locally. The first flag representing La Serenissima was ordered as a gift to be taken to Prague. I made a banner for the city of Suzhou, the Venice of the East, in China, and another for the New York fire department.
Where do you find the stimulus to create?: Everywhere I go, there are traces of Venetian history. It is so vast that you never run out of things to discover, if you are interested in learning. I am intrigued by the motivations behind the objects themselves, particularly the flags, and by the analysis of colours, which opens up a whole world in its own right.
Is there a particularly memorable moment with your craft?: Yes, when a banner of mine opened the procession from the top of Prague Castle over the Charles Bridge in May, in celebration of St. John of Nepomuk, patron Saint of those who travel by water. A statue of St. John stands at the entrance to the Cannaregio Canal from the Grand Canal.

Anna Campagnari is an expert artisan she began her career in 2009