Pieter

CoM: CIAO! TODAY WE’RE INTERVIEWING CARNEVALE COSTUME DESIGNER, PIETER VANDERMEERSCH.

CoM: WHEN DID YOU GET INTRODUCED TO VENICE ITALY’S CARNEVALE?

PV: In the summer of 2015, my mother and I visited Venice for the first time. This was my first trip to the city, but my mother's umpteenth; she'd been going as a child.

When she turned 60 in 2017, I asked her, "What's still on your bucket list that you absolutely want to experience?" The answer, of course, was to experience the Venice Carnival.

I booked our trip immediately, but we needed a costume that had to be finished in two months. By February 2018, we were in Venice for our first, and what we thought would be our only, Carnevale.

We got in touch with the then-president of the Belgian group, "Regards Venitiens," about participating in their events, since we're also Belgian. That's how the ball got rolling, and we haven't missed a single edition since 2018.

CoM: WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT CARNEVALE?

PV: The amazement of the audience, the welcoming atmosphere amongst the other masked photographers, the company of the many friends they've made, the city itself...

COM: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE CARNEVALE TO SOMEONE WHO HAS NEVER BEEN?

PV: Do it at least once in your life. It's an incredible experience that can't be described in words. It has to be experienced firsthand.

COM: DO YOU DESIGN YOUR OWN COSTUMES?

PV: Yes, we started making our costumes for our first trip to Venice Carnevale and have continued making them ever since.

COM: DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE CARNEVALE BUSINESS YOU’D LIKE TO RECOMMEND?

PV: La Corte dei Miracoli - Annamaria, the owner of the shop, has been making our masks for several years now and they are fantastic.