Benedetta Panisson

 Queer Sea Marriage: Towards a Collective Performance

Queer Sea Marriage is a project by Benedetta Panisson, a Venetian artist and academic researcher focused on maritime gender and erotic imaginaries. Rooted in a transcultural and ecofeminist analysis of the traditional Venetian ritual of the Sposalizio con il Mare, the project proposes a collective performance as an inclusive, de-hierarchized, and intimate alternative to unite the Venetian community with the Adriatic Sea.
Since the year 1000, the Doge has married the sea. Aboard the lavish Bucintoro ship, he cast a gold ring into the waves and blessed the water in exchange for prosperity. This ritual staged a patriarchal relationship in which the male human sought to dominate the sea-female-bride. The pronounced formula: “Desposamus te, mare. In signum veri perpetuique dominii” (“We wed thee, O sea, as a sign of true and perpetual dominion”).
Today, the ceremony is performed by the mayor, following the historical tradition. It takes place where the M.O.S.E., a controversial flood protection system, now stands between the lagoon and the sea—fulfilling technologically what was once believed to be achieved through marriage.

Performance Proposal
The performance, the result of a participatory and widespread process, will be both a collective and intimate gesture, stripped down to its minimum: bodies and water, a collective immersion. We dispense with the Doge’s lavish boat, gold ring, formulas, ostentatious display, and the hierarchical distance between a male of power and the sea. Instead, we shift from exploitation to coexistence with the sea, from a patriarchal structure to a horizontal experience, from domination to affection. As an aesthetic reference, I proposed People Do Water (OPR Gallery, 2024): a series of film photographs depicting people simply immersed in various seas, capturing a moment of pleasure. This imagery of unity and lightness, beyond the prevalent eco-panic, expresses love for the sea amidst the global crisis of rising sea levels. It connects island communities and positions itself as a contemporary continuation of the historic wedding ritual, while re-signifying it. The number of participants will be determined gradually, respecting the sea and the chosen bathing site. In June 2025, we will stage a demo of the performance with approximately 50 participants to experiment with aesthetic details and gather visual materials for a broader version.

Project Background and Upcoming Events
Queer Sea Marriage was presented as an academic research project at the conference “Materiality at the Intersections of Ecologies and Religious Studies” (Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, May 2024), with the support of Durham University. The Marriage to the Sea ritual was analyzed through the lenses of gender and visual studies, highlighting its patriarchal and exploitative relationship with the maritime element, the cultural construct of the sea’s feminization as a means of subjugation, and its aesthetic significance. Other historical examples of marriages to the sea were explored, along with contemporary precedents in performance art, such as the work of Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens. The discussion emphasized the importance of designing a collective performance and the deep interconnection between artistic practice and academic research.
The project was later presented at Undercurrents, Transeuropa Festival (November 2024), in a workshop curated by European Alternatives, Rete Arcipelago, Marianna Biadene, Associazione Gamaka, and Alessandra Marzini. This public engagement marked a crucial step in opening the project to broader participation, bringing together associations, university representatives, and local citizens. The event fostered enthusiasm, support, and momentum for the next phase: transforming academic research and artistic practice into an intimate, collective action with the sea.
In March 2'025, the project has been part of Aquamour Festival, at "Hydrofeminism", with Anna Street, Francesca Chialà e Benedetta Panisson, at the Home of The Human Safety Net, and at the ueer Sea Marriage workshop, together with Kyoo Lee and Marianna Biadene, sharing the project's developments and the aesthetic and practical details of the upcoming collective performance.
In June 2025, Queer Sea Marriage will be presented at the SIEF – International Society for Ethnology and Folklore conference in Aberdeen, Scotland, as part of the panel “Coastal (Re)entanglements: Unwritten Remembrances and Assemblages in Verbal and Visual Arts and Performance”. This will allow the project to engage in dialogue with other maritime cultures and performative practices.
Interviews related to the project have been published in Transeuropa Journal 2024 and in Relazioni:, by Luca Sossella Editore. Each public presentation—whether in academic or artistic contexts—is carefully documented, ensuring the project remains an evolving, shared work-inprogress across multiple platforms.

Technical details
Academic Panels, workshops, ongoing live perfomance.

Exhibitions | Workshops | Talks
2025, (upcoming) Queer Sea Marriage at SIEF International Society for Ethnology and Folklore Conference, Aberdeen, Scotland.
2025, Aquamour Festival, curated by Sumus, “Hydrofeminism” conference with Anna Street and Francesca Chialà and workshop with Kyoo Lee, curator, and Marianna Biadene, co-curator and local project manager.
2024, Transeuropa Festival, curated by European Alternatives, various location, Venice. Workshop curated by Rete Arcipelago, Marianna Biadene, Associazione Gamaka, Alessandra Marzini.
2024, Queering the Marriage of the Sea, at Materiality at the Intersection of Ecologies and Religious Studies, organized by Giorgio Cini Foundation, Harvard University (Harvard Divinity School), NICHE, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, University College Dublin, Venice.

Queer Sea Marriage at Transueropa Festival | Nov 2024 | Venice, curated by Transeuropa Festival, Rete Arcipelago, Marianna Biadene, Alessandra Marzini. The project was presented at a workshop as an open process to analyze and deconstruct the traditional Marriage to the Sea, focusing on patriarchy, domination, feminization of the sea, trying to convert this dynamic in a performance proposal above all these hiearchy and heternormative powers. To the participants and the Venetian community an alternative collective perfomance has been proposed, with the sea, and its community, at the centre, focusing on the love for the sea, inclusivity, and an horizontal process. Giving up the gold ring, the opulence, the patriarchal wedding, and the distance between the powerful male figure and the aquatic element, in favor of a collective act of immersion in the sea—one that is inclusive, minimal, quiet, respectful, and above all, grounded in a dynamic of pleasure. The project is going to follow in the next few months and all participants, associations, and interested people will be updated. Extra materials will be soon available. Photo Credits: Transeuropa Festival, Claudia Correnti, Anita.