Strada 2003

Strada was an art project commissioned by the Radar Project that took place at the 2003 Venice Biennale. The Radar Project, organised by Lorenzo Cinotti, consisted of a three-month residency in Venice from March to June. The exhibition, curated by Angela Vettese, took place at the Centro Civico in Giudecca as part of the Extra 50 Venice Biennale in June 2003.

The Strada (meaning 'street' in Italian) collection of handbags, shown during the 2003 Venice Biennale, was created to highlight the relationship between fashion brands and the Senegalese bagsellers who sell imitations on the street, directly in front of the same stores they are imitating.   Biagioli created the Strada brand of handbags with images of the bags sold on the street directly printed on the bags and sold the bags on the street alongside the bagsellers.  The bags were manufactured by a co-operative in Venice that employs ex-prison women.

This was the first of a series of handbags; a series that started here, continued in Weimar at K&K Centrum für Kunst und Mode with Strasse later that year, and was completed in 2007 with the Street.as multiple for the Art, Lifestyle and Globalisation symposium at Tate Modern in 2007.

• http://www.monicabiagioli.com/