June 20-28, 2009
Montelupo – Italy

Hard to believe… the 2009 edition of the International Ceramic Festival seems even more interesting than the 2008 one, when the Regional Museum of Ceramics had just been re-opened and the city blew the candles on the 25th birthday of its School of Ceramics.

This year the focus will be on modern ceramic art with the grand opening of the first department of the Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art and Nanni Valentini’s retrospective exhibition – separate articles will soon be published on these key events.

Together with Nanni Valentini, other established artists will be honored with solo or collective exhibitions. As an encouragement to the younger generations and their experimental vision of ceramic art, the municipality has sponsored the production of many installations made by young artists and placed all over the town.

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June 21-29, 2008
Montelupo – Italy

Montelupo is a charming Medieval city built on a hill, a few miles east of Florence.
That was about it, until a team of archeologists discovered an old well full of kiln shards in 1973.

The unexpected discovery shed new light on the role of Montelupo in the history of Tuscan ceramics. It’s now a well-established fact that the town was one of the most important ceramic centers in Italy during the Renaissance and the production area of all the Florentine pottery.

The pride of such a splendid heritage revived the art of pottery making and had a positive impact on the local economic development.
Today Montelupo is a flourishing town, rich with historical buildings, talented potters and an awesome Museum of Ceramics.

To celebrate the glory of the past and today’s pottery art and craft an International Ceramic Festival is organized every year in the streets of the old historic district of Montelupo.

In a few weeks, from June 21st, performances, activities, art demos, exhibitions and young artists’ installations will definitely change the look of the town.

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