Torino 2011 – Risorgimento and Italian art ceramics

I’ve just come back from a week in Turin. I immensely enjoyed the city. It’s lively, friendly, easy going and there is so much happening. Apparently the city administration decided to step change the image of Turin when the place hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006 and has never stopped investing in culture and quality events. Even more so this year, 2011, the year of Italy’s 150th anniversary.

Italian flags were waving from all the balconies, softening the severe look of Turin’s ancient building and giving to the whole place a festive look. Each museum and city attraction had organized its own special event to celebrate the Risorgimento, the political and military movement that led to the unification of Italy, and the city key role in its success.

To make the most out of my days in Turin I had a carefully planned out schedule, a balanced mix of art, sightseeing and good food (of course!). And when it comes to art, ceramics are always on top of my mind! Here you go: a short but juicy report of Italian pottery in Turin 2011.

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Meeting Italian ceramic artists: Mirta Morigi

Italian Ceramics - Works by Mirta Morigi - Photo credits: www.racine.ra.itWhen I stepped through the old door into Mirta’s bottega it felt like I was traveling back in time, when technology did not own our lives and working meant “laboring”.
Biscotto piled up on every shelf, sketches pinned all around, brushes, easels, pieces at different production stages, busy people sitting at small desks, the perennial grayish dust of clay everywhere. Nobody seemed to pay any attention to me, and I was really wondering if I had misinterpreted the indications I’d found on Mirta’s showroom window in the main street of Faenza.

Then a nice girl looked up from her half-painted plate and asked me if I was looking for Mirta. A hesitant “yes, I am,” and I was told, “She’s in the back room”. Impossible not to feel at home! Continue reading