Greta Thunberg, climate change activist, was banned from Venice following a protest that dyed the Grand Canal green. Thunberg, 22, joined Extinction Rebellion, an environmental group, to dye the city’s tourist attraction with a green non-toxic tracer, as an act of protest. The group hung a banner on the Rialto Bridge that said “stop ecocide,” a slogan used to highlight “the massive effects of climate change.” The public demonstration drew attention when protesters wearing red veils walked around crowds of tourists. The protest group also dyed other waterways in several Italian cities, including Milan, Palermo, and Bologna. Veneto’s governor, Luca Zaia, condemned the protest, calling it an act that “wounds” the city of Venice. Radical environmental protests have increased in the past few years. In 2022, protesters defaced historic art, including throwing food onto Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in London. Two protesters from the Declare Emergency climate activist group flung red and black paint at the Edgar Degas sculpture at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Zaia took to Instagram, writing, “These acts damage Venice, require restoration work, and—paradoxically—generate pollution.” Thunberg’s Venice ban lasted only 48 hours, and she was fined $172, along with dozens of other protesters.
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