40,000 salad bags sold to restore 17th-century Ushak carpet

A cause-related marketing campaign sold 40,000 bags of salad to fund the restoration of a 17th-century Ushak medallion carpet from the Franchetti collection at Ca' d'Oro in Venice. The initiative, called "Una trama da svelare," was a collaboration between private and public entities from Veneto and Piedmont. The salad producer Gli Orti di Venezia and Nova Coop distributed the product, with proceeds supporting the restoration. The Direzione regionale Musei Veneto and Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro selected the artwork. The actual restoration was carried out by the Fondazione Centro Conservazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale in Piedmont, with students from the University of Turin's master's program in Conservation and Restoration participating as a case study. The project combined educational and outreach goals, documenting the process digitally. After restoration, the carpet returned to Ca' d'Oro for public display, accompanied by images and videos explaining the conservation work. Vincenzo Fotia of Nova Coop noted that customers appreciated supporting cultural heritage through their purchases. Sara Abram, secretary general of the Centro Conservazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale, highlighted the partnership's success in engaging the public and promoting best practices in heritage conservation.