Michèle Lamy /

Co-owner of Owenscorp, Paris

I was 6 or 7. I went with my mother to an opera at La Fenice. The French Pavilion by Anri Sala at the last Art Biennale in 2013. Excited about the exhibition curated by Okwui Enwezor and looking forward to discovering his choices. I'm already reading Karl Marx again! I always love to keep in the back of my head the image of San Marco with all of its glorious past, but I also like the idea that the square is open towards the sea, on the way to the Balkans and the Silk Road. Rick and I (and our extended family) spend a lot of time on the beach of Lido imagining new songs… But as soon as he takes a nap I escape to the construction sites in Marghera and Mestre: to plan real and imaginary industrial boat constructions – going through the Guidecca canal at night to the sea - through Sicily and then the tip of Africa. With crew, truck, engines… But then there is the countryside… the farm islands… the vines… and lazy lunch with fish from the lagoon and vegetables from the land…

Excelsior hotel at Lido and Beach Lungomare Guglielmo Marconi, 41 Lido Tel 041-526 0201 hotelexcelsiorvenezia.com