Thanks to PwC and Vela spa, the 2023 edition of the Venice Carnival lands in the Metaverse. Mayor Brugnaro: “With its Carnival, the city of Venice bets on the future and the dialogue with new generations”
From 4 to 21 February 2023, it will be possible to participate in the Venice Virtual Carnival and wear your own virtual mask on Instagram, Ready Player Me and Roblox.
“Take Your Time For The Original Signs” is the first Carnival in the world to dress our digital identity, regardless of age. For the first time in history, the Venice Carnival will land in the Metaverse, thanks to the collaboration between PwC Italia and Vela Spa. The theme chosen this year by the Artistic Director Massimo Checchetto, will overcome its material boundaries by becoming virtual on the Metaverse and allowing anyone to leave a sign of their uniqueness anywhere in the world.
The visitors that will come to celebrate Carnival in Venice from 4 to 21 February will be joined by the avatars of enthusiasts who, on the main social, gaming and metaverse platforms, will be able to have fun wearing the typical masks of the tradition (namely Colombina, Pantalone, the Bauta, the Medico della Peste, the Fenice, and the mask created especially for this occasion “Original Sign”, based on an idea of Massimo Checchetto), recreated for the occasion in a contemporary key, reinterpreting the theme of the 2023 Carnival edition. The novelty was presented this morning at the House of The Human Safety Net in Procuratie Vecchie by the Mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro, Matteo Bonente, Partner at PwC Italia, and Alberto Bozzo, Director of Market Development at Vela Spa.
“With its Carnival, Venice is betting on the future and the dialogue with the new generations – commented Mayor Luigi Brugnaro – by targeting children and young people who already hang out in the Metaverse. This initiative will allow them to create their own avatars and dress up in traditional Venetian Carnival masks. Reality is made of dreams and culture, and interacting with these platforms is important because they can develop cultural phenomena of enormous proportions. Venice has always taken risks over time, and made great achievements and discoveries: now we must explore the future, which is already among us. This is a path that big companies are already taking and that we must follow, because we are one of the great cities in the world. We are also thinking of a project to tell and reconstruct the history of the entire Metropolitan City of Venice in the Metaverse. Future and past together, to explain to the whole world how Venice was born, to tell it through the stories that were, the places and the time – is the new challenge announced by Brugnaro – We are thinking of real cultural paths to bring the new generations closer and tell them about the “oldest city of the future”, in a virtual sphere that has participation and involvement as its strong point”.
PwC Italia, using a team of digital professionals composed of metaverse strategists, 3D artists, creatives and technology experts, has digitally reinterpreted the traditional masks and costumes to extend the Venice Carnival experience into virtual reality. Thanks to the virtual rendering of the masks, Gen Z, gamers and fans of the Metaverse will be able to express their originality by sharing it on Instagram, playing with Roblox or visiting a Metaverse each with their own avatar built with Ready Player Me. Matteo Bonente, Partner at PwC Italia, explains the idea behind the initiative: “The Venice Virtual Carnival was born from the idea of being able to impersonate the typical masks of the Venice Carnival through one’s own digital identity or avatar. We are proud to have made our skills available to give an additional dimension to the Venetian Carnival, which also lends itself well to the fruition even in the new virtual worlds”.
Furthermore, under the supervision of artistic director Massimo Checchetto and with the help of PwC, Vela spa designed the holographic postcard of the official 2023 “Original Sign” mask, in order to build a bridge between the physical and virtual world. “We are very happy with this technical partnership with PwC Italia. Supporting the spirit and tradition of the Venice Carnival also in the digital world of the Metaverse represents an opportunity to promote the event to the new generations, always attentive and protagonists of the new frontiers of digital communication. – said Alberto Bozzo, Director of Market Development at Vela spa – Ready Player Me, the leading platform for the creation of Avatars, and Roblox, an online games platform with more than 50 million active users every day in 180 countries, testify to the size of the opportunity to promote the Venice Carnival”.
Other special initiatives and activities will be launched via the official social networks of the Venice Carnival.
