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Deruta – The Magic of Ceramic Art 2009

June 26 – July 12, 2009
Sept 12 – 20, 2009
Deruta – Italy

Italian Ceramics - Deruta: The Magic of Ceramic Art 2009 - Photo Credits: http://www.comune.deruta.pg.itThe second edition of Deruta Ceramic Festival is about to start. The program is attractive, not only for Italian pottery lovers, but for anyone who enjoys live shows and art in general.

The events will take place on Fridays through Sundays. Here is a selection:

ONGOING EVENTS: every Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Anyone willing to create his own ceramic masterpiece can join Deruta potters at the Open Ceramic Lab. From wheel throwing to freehand painting, visitors will experience the making of pottery and bring home their own solid ceramic pieces. The Lab is downtown in Piazza dei Consoli and is open from 11 am to 8 pm

Stands displaying Deruta artists’ works will be open all day in the main street of the old district

Exhibition of the 36 Italian Ceramic Towns Association (AICC) at Grazia’s Old Factory

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Della Robbia: Technical Innovation and Creative Genius

Italian Ceramics - Cappuccini Tondo by Luca della Robbia (1475-80), Bargello Museum, Florence - Photo Credits: www.scultura-italiana.comAccording to Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), the famous biographer of Renaissance painters, sculptors and architects, Luca della Robbia’s technique was so revolutionary that he’d be praised for it for many centuries to come. He explained how it was not such a hard work to make a clay sculpture and the only reason why clay had not been used much so far was that it could not be preserved over time. Luca, after many experiments, managed to invent a special mixture of minerals. This glaze, used to coat the sculptures before the firing in a suitable kiln, would make them almost eternal.

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Lucerna Circus – A Ceramic Oil Lamp Exhibition

February 7-17, 2009
Perugia – Italy

Frezzini&Zaganelli - Circo Lucerna e Romeo il clown - 2008Each year the Lungarotti Foundation harnesses the creative forces of important Italian artists to offer a new, creative vision of the oil lamp and its flickering light that accompanied the life of people for many centuries. Oil lamps have been used in Italy until the end of World War 1. They were usually made of clay and burned olive oil, that neither smells nor smokes.

This year the project was assigned to Stelio Zaganelli e Cristina Frezzini, two young designers from Umbria, assisted in the making of their works by the School of Ceramic Art Romano Ranieri in  Deruta.
In a brilliantly creative association of ideas, they have jumped from the magic of the olive tree and oil – almost sacred in Italy – to the magic of the Circus.

Inspired by the atmosphere of poetry surrounding the 19th century Circus, so close to human virtues and vices, their large ceramic oil lamps/sculptures represent the key characters of the Lucerna Circus:

Sissi, the slender and elegant dancer, always in the limelight, desperate for a loving soul to share her destiny with;

Filo, the slim funambulist, continuously challenging his records but depending on drugs to keep his pace steady;

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New Clays – Languages of the Young Italian Art Pottery

Dec. 19, 2008 – Jan. 30, 2009
Baronissi – Italy

An extraordinary exhibition Italian Ceramics - New Clays Exhibition in Baronissi (Salerno)has just been opened at the FRAC Baronissi – Regional Fund of Contemporary Art – that will feature the works of a new generation of artists who’ve chosen clay to express their Art.

Born in the Seventies and the Eighties, they represent what’s new in the technical and visual language of Italian ceramics. A unique initiative, indeed, since it builds on the differing Italian traditions – Deruta, Savona, Padova, Vietri, Faenza, Lucca, Urbino and Salerno among the others  – and techniques, which include a number of experiments with contemporary images and materials.

In his introduction to the event the director of the FRAC Baronissi says that the exhibition features a carefully selected sample of the languages and the practices used in modern Italian ceramic art. These languages preserve the lively cells of the valuable Italian heritage while participating in the contemporary art experiences and blending clay with other materials and creative processes. Italian pottery is therefore a language among other languages, all of them having in common imagination, creativity and a contemporary spirit.

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Italian Clay Art: Brunelleschi’s Madonna first time on exhibit

Dec. 15, 2008 – Feb. 28, 2009
Firenze – Italy
Italian Ceramics - Madonna di Fiesole - Photo credits: www.corriere.itAn adorable clay sculpture of the Madonna with Child recently attributed to Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) will be on exhibit for the first time through Feb. 28th, 2009 in the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence.

The terracotta bust portraits a young woman with downcast eyes, deep in thought. She gently holds her baby, who leans on her shoulder with profound trust and intimacy, interlocking his legs with her arms.

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