Arrivederci Dialogue in the Dark Barge

Dialogue in the Dark Genova has permanently stopped its operations this year.

Photo of the barge at its mooring in Genova
Photo of the former Black Box container on the Piazza Caricamento
Photo of the barge leaving the harbour of Genova

The barge which hosted the DiD exhibition and thousands of encounters among blind guides and sighted visitors for 7 years sadly left the Old Port last November 30th.

The exhibition started its operations in Genova in 2011. More than 100,000 visitors experienced Dialogue in the Dark over almost 10 years.

The first DiD venue in Genova was a container structure located in the middle of the Piazza Caricamento near the Genova Aquarium.

In 2013 DiD Genova moved to its second venue. It was the DiD Barge, which is a special boat with a flat basis, located at the old port, a cultural spot of Genova with many museums and the famous aquarium right In front of the Galata Museum.

It was a very sad day when the barge left the Old Port. Some of the blind guides cried and shared touching words and beautiful memories of their working days on social media. The barge will arrive in Rome by Christmas. There it will be restored and placed near the Isola Tiberina, along the river Tevere at the heart of the city. The Institute for the Blind Sant'Alessio will take charge of the Dialogue and the barge in Rome.

Michele Cassinelli, President of the Istituto dei Ciechi David Chiossone di Genova - our DiD partner, hopes to build a third DiD venue in Genova. Currently they have a beautiful space available at the local Children's Museum, however part of the funding is still missing, and the pandemic has made the situation even harder.

We at DSE can only honor and acknowledge the great job of the Istituto dei Ciechi David Chiossone di Genova throughout a decade. The hearts of the DiD family are sad too upon the departure of the DiD barge. But we are also grateful for 10 years of Dialogue in Genova. And we are confident that new opportunities will be found soon to keep the Dialogue in this beautiful Italian port.