“Through assemblages of different ceramic materials, oxides, glazes, and clays, the artist created different layers that led, at different times, to the creation of unseen structures. A new nature has taken over, with shapes and spaces, giving rise to floral assemblages animated by encrustations and material variations. We face with a new world, almost an apocalyptic archaeology that recounts desert and abstract situations, in a living return to the voice of matter that becomes structure. “Ruins of the future” develops paradox and becomes metaphor for the reality we are living and dangerously transforming into something new, different, disrespectful of the voice of our mother earth.” Claudia Casali
 

With his sculpture, Porelli wants to provide access to an archetypal dimension of reality, condensing surrealist contaminations, Pop proliferations and archaic symbolism in his visual language. The anthropomorphic inventions that he elaborates produce an estrangement effect of the figuration, creating iconographic absurdities and a new mythology of the present. Porelli’s human repertory emphasises the critical issues of contemporary mankind and all the phenomena that underlie society, including the unsustainability of civilisation as a development model and its incompatibility with nature. His sculpture becomes an example of cultural eclecticism and historical nomadism, representing stylistically the expressive globalization of creation. Porelli’s work finds its preferred expressive technique in ceramics, both for the connection of this material with the ancestral roots of man, and due to its versatility, which offers him the opportunity to express current, modern and contemporary concepts. According to Porelli “I have always used an anthropomorphic figure as a metaphor for reality, an amalgamation of personal experience, perceptual aspects and art-historical idioms.”

To understand the exclusivity of lustre as a creative means for Maurizio Tittarelli Rubboli, we must go back to the historical roots of his choice.
He is the heir to a prestigious tradition, the Rubboli workshop of Gualdo Tadino, founded in 1873 by Paolo Rubboli – his great-grandfather – and active until today.
His family history is inextricably linked to the practice of lustre technique, as a specialty, workshop secret, a surprising mixture of alchemic origin.
From the reconstruction of the history of the family, through the study of documents and the collection of oral memories, he moved on to the recovery of the Rubboli workshop recipes and the use of the old muffle kilns, mastering the art of third firing. The old Rubboli factory has now been transformed into a museum.
The practical experience and the technical investigation led him to undertake an autonomous artistic journey, employing lustre technique in the two variants of third firing and “in-glaze” lustre.
Thanks to the aesthetic orientation pursued in his works, together with an extraordinary care in the execution of individual pieces, he reaches levels of rare quality in lustre rendering. Formal perfection is for him a conditio sine qua non, following in this respect his family tradition.
Moreover the frequent use of airbrush takes on a clear symbolic connotation that can vary in different contexts. The form thus finds correspondence and harmony with the conceptual sense of the work.
It is interesting to note that each piece has a pronounced structural character, without denying the functional origin of the object. Bowls, boxes, vases, and plates lose their practical value to take on new creative energy.

The way I think about working with ceramics was strongly influenced by the years I spent at university.
It was a time when students where required to embark on a learning process linked to a path of research. The concept of “path of research” has always been an inspiration to me and ever since the beginninig my career has developed trough phases that included the analysis of the problem, the design and the realization of a project.
Most of the projects that I have carried out are the expression of my passion for literature, sociology, craftsmanship of the people, art history and contemporary art.
My artistic work has been flanked by other activities that have contributed to spreading knonwledge about contemporary ceramics. I am dedicated to teaching and I work with public and private institutions.
In 2002 I opened a space/gallery where exhibitions and events are organized to present the works of both emerging and recognized artist who use the expressive language of ceramics.

Being born and raised in Italy, can sometimes mean – for us artists- feeling the weight of our history. Especially living in Faenza, one can certainly feel the influence of our last 1000 years of tradition. And it is precisely for this reason that one must leave their own tradition and put themselves out there. As a ceramic artist, I have developed some personal techniques, mainly working with porcelain and experimenting with paper clay. In the last few years, I have reached a rewarding level of control of these specific techniques and I have even started teaching them in workshops around the world.
My way of working is not traditional. My objective has been to create a lightness in ceramics- not only regarding weight but also visually.
Crespines are finely shaped majolica bowls made in Faenza around the 16th and 17th centuries, and were used in European royal courts as luxury items. I started in the 2005 revisiting these bowls for a new collection of porcelain paper clay objects. Still today I continue to do new research in this field because it has been still very exciting and also very challenging to work on traditional shapes with a brand new philosophy and technique. They are airy, light, vulnerable objects that live out of light and shadows. This collection represents a new way of interpreting the material, not in terms physical material, but as an evocative transparency.
A large part of my work is dedicated to installations, I like to play with the spaces in which my pieces are going to be inserted and I like to create a connection with the viewers.
I have always been fascinated by shadows and the history of ceramics. So, in 2013 I began studying how I could combine these two antique ideas and, Butterflies installations and virtual museums were born.

La Meridiana is a non-profit institution for the advancement of the ceramic arts that has been founded in 1981 by Pietro Elia Maddalena. The school is set in a restored 17th century farmhouse, in the centre of Tuscany, land of Etruscan and Roman culture, medieval architecture and renaissance splendour.

La Meridiana runs a wide range of courses that encompass a year round programme, including two long term courses, offered to respond to a need for qualified development in the field of functional ceramics and a residency programme.

Our goal is to offer a meeting ground to the broader clay community, where to share a passion, learn from renowned instructors and from fellow students, forge new friendships, enjoy the pleasures of Italian life; all conductive to a fruitful and rewarding learning experience.

The International Museum of ceramics in Faenza – MIC offers a complete vision of the ceramic cultures belonging to any age and place. Ceramics coming from the Far East, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Turkey and from South America, allow the visitors to live an extraordinary experience. The Museum was founded in 1908 by Gaetano Ballardini and today it collects and promotes a heritage made up of more than 50.000 works, both ancient and contemporary, all of them exhibited in about 15.000 squared meters of suggestive architectures. The MIC is a unique exemplar in the world, it is testified by the masterpieces of the Italian renaissance, works by Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Leger, Burri, Fontana and other great works of art. The MIC is a real ceramic cultural pole, it includes a Historical Library, opened to the public, which preserves more than 70.000 ceramics books and reviews, a Restoration Department, Photographic and Documentary Archives, and since 1913 it has published the magazine Faenza. The educational department “Playing with Ceramics”, a workshop established by Bruno Munari, plays an important educational role for ceramics and it is linked to the guided tours for children, families , students and people in general. The MIC has been arranging since 1938 the “International Competition of Ceramic Art – Faenza Prize” one of the most significant and prestigious biennial in the field of contemporary ceramic art, it highlights the new art trends and languages from all over the world. The international relevance of the MIC, its history deeply linked to a town which joins its name with ceramics itself (Faenza – Faïence), the great exhibitions, the meetings, the events devoted to several forms of art, allowed it to be part of the sites selected by UNESCO as place of peace with the acknowledgement “MIC expression of ceramic art in the world”

Rolando Giovannini is a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and Member of IAC International Academy of Ceramics, Geneva, Switzerland.
He was invited to the 54th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale (2011, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi). He also participated at 4th Biennial Shanghai International Contemporary Porcelain Shanghai Museum of Arts and Craft, Shanghai (2014 China).
He graduated with a degree in Geology and a diploma at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, Italy. He is Professor of Ceramics Material in Architecture – Knowledge and Conservation at the SSBAP – Polytechnic University of Milan (since 2015, previously he was Professor in Milan Brera Academy of Fine Arts) and author of various books (Italian/Spanish) on ceramic design for architecture. In 1996 he was the curator of Centro di Documentazione della Piastrella Italiana in the Confindustria Palace (Sassuolo, Italy), and of the 2004 Design Exhibition in MuST – Museo Storico Tecnologia, SACMI (Imola, Italy). In 2013 he curated Recent Ceramic Tiles in MIC (International Ceramics Museum, Faenza) as well as Contemporary Ceramics Art in Museo Fiorano Modenese, Italy.
His art works are held at the Victoria and Albert Museum London, the Shin-Kobe underground railway Shinkansen Station in Kobe Japan, Museu Nacional do Azulejo Lisboa Portugal. Him sculptures are in Fuping FuLe International Ceramic Art Museums, Ceramics Museum Zibo, Yixing Teapot Museum (2019), China and in Museu de les Arts Decoratives Barcelona Spain, AMOCA Museum Pomona USA, at the MIC Faenza, MIAAO International Applied Art Museum Turin and in Fabbrica Casa Museo “G. Mazzotti 1903” Albissola, Italy.
Since 2014, he has been of MI.MA “Milano Makers”, Executive Committee Member (2016). He is president of Watercolourists Faenza, Italy (2017) and curator of “Espresso and Cappuccino Cups” 10 Editions 2017-2019. He is a member of the Order of Italian Journalists, specialist in art and design, since 2010.

Giuseppe Olmeti is General Secretary and Coordinator of the Italian Association of Cities of Ceramics (AiCC), established in 1999 to preserve and enhance Italian Ceramic Art and Craft.

The members are currently 40 Cities of affirmed ceramic tradition, acknowledged by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, steadily expanding.

Since 2015, AiCC has organized Buongiorno Ceramica (Good Morning Ceramics), the week-end of Italian Ceramics, with a rich programme of events across the Country, giving the public the chance discovering craftsmen, artists, ceramic workshops, ateliers and museums of ceramics.
Buongiorno Ceramica is held every year in the third week-end of May, in Italy and in some other European countries, too.

AiCC is also among the founding members of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation Cities of Ceramics (AEuCC), established in 2014 with the aim of developing actions of territorial and transnational cooperation in the field of Ceramic Art and Craft. The members of AEuCC are similar national associations in France, Spain, Romania, currently enlarging to other Countries (Germany, Portugal, Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia and more). Website: http://www.aeucc.eu/

AEuCC promoted the creation and is partner of several projects granted by EU, such as Cerasmus+ (Erasmus+) and CLAY (Interreg Europe).

AiCC promotes many other projects in the ceramic field:
– Argillà Italia, of which AiCC has been founder in 2008 and manager until 2016 (https://www.argilla-italia.it/)
– Grand Tour: a promotional traveling exhibition of ceramic craft works from the italian tradition (http://www.buongiornoceramica.it/home/progetti/grand-tour/)
– Fame ConCreta: a project enhancing the link between food and ceramics (https://www.fameconcreta.it/)
– Mater Ceramica: a project aiming at deepening the knowledge of the Italian ceramic sector in all its fields (industry, craft, art) in order to spread this knowledge for cultural and promotional purposes (https://materceramica.org/)
– Promotion of Italian ceramics in Europe and in the world.

Founded in 2011 by Laura Borghi, Fondazione Officine Saffi, a leading non-profit foundation investigating contemporary international ceramics takes an unparalleled, 360 degree-approach to ceramics. Promoting new research and experimentation in ceramics, while exploring the past, the foundation widens and expands the dialogue between art, craft, and design. Through a dynamic, cross-disciplinary program of exhibitions, educational activities, and publications, it actively promotes a lively conversation about ceramics that encapsulates a diverse audience. All activity at the foundation is driven by the belief that ceramics is a carrier of artistic, cultural, and social transformation.

Fostering a open and participatory setting, Fondazione Officine Saffi encourages both artists and audiences to interrogate what it means to live in our world today, to relate to the Other and nonhuman life, and create social and cultural value through involvement in a multidisciplinary program that underscores a unique consortium of interpretations and builds momentum around ceramics in the twenty-first century. The foundation supports artists, designers, and makers through the different stages of production, promotion, and recognition of their work while being a platform for emerging creatives, as well as projects and narratives flourishing outside the established market systems.

The foundation’s commitment to exploring Italian culture accompanies its intercultural identity and desire to create a broader dialogue that resonates on a global scale together with a hybrid network of international talents, institutions, and organizations.

In recent years, her ceramics characterized by such delightful beasts has brought her into public and private collections around the world, from Australia to India, to China to Korea, to Japan.

“These trips to cities of ancient ceramics tradition known throughout the world of which Faenza luckily is part – says Mirta – has allowed me to hold workshops and conferences and to generate exchange technical and cultural experiences with teachers and students of ceramics, renewing and adding new ideas to my already magical craft. In addition, the magic is that every day I can learn a new technique and listen to what the earth, water and fire have to say in all languages, at last coming to a common language that is the language of ceramics. ” Mirta

Mirta recounts these experiences with joy and excitement, which are part of her vocation. She has got an innate sensitivity to manipulate light, the alchemical synthesis of colors and dreamlike imagery, which takes an all woman team force to bring to life. A challenge that Mirta and her girls are capable of conquering every day.

Captivating, nonchalantly and allusive “iconografia”that, joined with the sheen of the glazes in a “crescendo” of lightened shades leads. Year after year, the *“Bottega Morigi” to unmistakable features: through her fairy-tales images. Mirta conveys the essence of her creativity avoiding, by means of a fantastic always-in-ferment artistic mood, the barren serial nature of a formula, by giving every single piece of art the preciousness of unique specimen.

*Bottega is a studio of Renaissance style, where the assistants of the “master” have been formed learning and working at the same time, a study open to other artists to share and work with ceramics continuously.

Elisa Gradi

The current work consists of two lines: The sculptures and pendants, mixture of human eroticism and seduction with animal nature, a mix of reality with fantasy, and the installations result of an ethnographic investigation about the travels and migrations.

The pendants and translucent installations, an intermediate between tradition and modernity are a series of majestic and symbolic robes or dresses, consisting of thousands of sheets of porcelain, made to be touched, heard and seen. Other architectural installations made for special projects are inspired by the ceilings and walls painted by Giotto in the early Renaissance.

On the other hand, the recent series of sculptures evoke the creatures of the sea floor or the life of that remains of the jungle, as well as new animal species modified by climate change and genetic intervention generated by humans.

My favorite pieces are those made slowly, over several years, as a work in progress, those that tell a story, like “Lace Route”. This work is the collection I have started in 2008 through my trips, fragments of cloths and laces very ancient. Fragments given away, bought and found, I have printed them on the porcelain, each tells the story of a person or a family. Printing on porcelain makes me feel like I have saving the pattern and its history.

I realize with patience very thin and perforated sheets, triangular fragments or needles of pigmented porcelain paste with Asian techniques as Nerikomi and Mishima. Pieces made by hand without mechanical means, only with the use of molds. For me, creating pieces is a process that represents a journey that holds a sacred dimension.
Martha P.R.