Artigianato e Palazzo 2024

From September 13 to 15 in the setting of Giardino Corsini appointment with the XXX edition of the event dedicated to craftsmanship excellence

From September 13 to 15, 2024, the Giardino Corsini in Florence will celebrate 30 years of Artigianato e Palazzo, the exhibition born from an idea of Neri Torrigiani - immediately welcomed with enthusiasm and supported by Giorgiana Corsini - and now promoted by the Giardino Corsini Association chaired by Sabina Corsini.

An exhibition that each year brings to attention an original new selection of the highest craft tradition, with a special focus on emerging generations, selected from Italy and Europe. This year an important milestone is celebrated with a program between past, present, future and 100 new witnesses of the highest Italian and European craft tradition, suggesting to visitors the market trends and to exhibitors the concrete opportunity of new business opportunities.

MASTER RESTORERS AND RESTORATION COMPANIES

The theme of restoration is at the center of this edition because of its objective cultural value and transmission of manual knowledge. “In choosing to dedicate this year a focus to the Restoration sector, we are happy to welcome in the Scuderie di Palazzo Corsini some professionals of the sector, as part of the 'Florence City of Restoration' project,curated by the Florence Chamber of Commerce, because it is the sector that best represents the identity of the exhibition for that continuous dialogue between history and innovation,” explain Sabina Corsini and Neri Torrigiani. Florence City of Restoration is a project developed by the Florence Chamber of Commerce-whose operational activities are delegated to PromoFirenze-whose promoters include CNA, ConfArtigianato, Legacoop and Confindustria, and whose main short-term goal is to unite all the public and private players involved in the sector in order to arrive at the official creation of a regional district that already exists in fact. The project makes it possible to host the best restorers and restorative companies, which were selected through the appropriate Call for Proposals and will be able to use their own location in the spaces of the Scuderie di palazzo Corsini al Prato.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Craft Gallery: 303 (30 cubed) Limonaia Focus
This is the title of the group exhibition promoted by Artex - Centro per l'Artigianato Artistico e Tradizionale della Toscana (Center for Artistic and Traditional Craftsmanship of Tuscany) with the scientific curatorship of Jean Blanchaert and set up in the Limonaia Focus of the Giardino Corsini, designed by Studio Lavanguardia.
“The theme chosen this year for our participation wants to celebrate the very important milestone reached by Artigianato e Palazzo, which is precisely celebrating its 30th Anniversary,” explains Elisa Guidi, Artex Coordinator.
“We will therefore work on a declination of the number 30, which in numerology symbolizes creativity as an expression and development of the intellect; and the number 3, which symbolizes perfection instead: concepts that are well suited to the creativity and technical perfection of the artistic productions of Tuscan artisans. Hence the decision to select 30 Tuscan companies that will exhibit 3 pieces each,” he concludes.

La Grande Bellezza Loggia del Buontalenti
Starhotels exhibits again at Crafts and Palace. On this special occasion, it presents the 10 finalist works of its “La Grande Bellezza - The Dream Factory” Prize, the patronage initiative in favor of high craftsmanship promoted by Italy's first hotel group, in collaboration with Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte, Associazione OMA - Osservatorio dei Mestieri d'Arte and Gruppo Editoriale. An exceptional jury, made up of exponents from the world of culture, applied arts, fashion and design, chaired by Elisabetta Fabri, president and CEO of Starhotels and creator of the initiative, identifies the 10 finalist works that will be exhibited in the enchantment of the monumental Loggia del Buontalenti that frames Palazzo Corsini. Now in its third edition, the biennial Starhotels Prize invited Italian artisans to submit works related to the theme “Souvenirs of the Grand Tour”: a subject of great interest and fascination, that of the signature object-souvenir, which leads many Italian artisan workshops of excellence to try their hand at works linked to local traditions, reinterpreting them with contemporary methods and taste.

Re-light Luce at Loggia of Federico Minelli
Photography Exhibition, Loggia del Buontalenti and Manica Lunga
In the constant search for young talents to promote and support the organizers' choice to give photographer Federico Minelli the task of interpreting with an original reading the Buontalenti Loggia, built in 1591.
The result is two large color works - exhibited at the Loggia itself - and a series of black-and-white images, in the “Manica Lunga,” that capture unexpected details of the monument, alternating with the results of the diagnostic campaign aimed at characterizing the materials and defining the degree of deterioration of the asset on which work will soon be done.

Protagoniste - competenze e creatività in terra of Toscana di Stefano Lupi
Photographic Exhibition, Scuderie and Manica Lunga
Part of the focus on Restoration, Stefano Lupi's photographic exhibition, Protagonists - skills and creativity in the land of Tuscany. (https://firenzecittadelrestauro.it/protagoniste/) visible in the space of the Manica Lunga: a tribute to all those Tuscan professionals, artists and artisans who with their knowledge, creativity and art contribute to the enhancement of the restoration sector and the development of a region and a country.

AMONG THE ARTISANS ON DISPLAY

At Artigianato e Palazzo, the public can meet 100 new witnesses of the highest Italian and European craft tradition for a hands-on experience, discovering the creative activities of ceramists, decorators, engravers, luthiers, sculptors, woodworkers, jewelers, weavers, milliners and much more, including those who are dedicated to the art of the table and furnishings, not forgetting ...the food and wine sector.

It starts with young artisans: Juliana Stolberg Donà dalle Rose reveals the secrets of the traditional Japanese technique with which she creates unique paper flowers; and...again among the young, some of the past winners of the Blogs&Crafts contest: master luthier and bowmaker Tommaso Pedani; weaver Lisa Fontana who works with yarns of animal and vegetable origin or recovered from old jeans.

Browsing among the accessories, bijoux, jewelry, they show their virtuoso workmanship resulting from an original ability to combine different techniques, such as: Melania La Via who, with Studio di Arte Tessile, proposes accessories, bijoux, furnishing accessories where the art of lace meets those of embroidery and goldsmithing; draws on weaving by applying it to metals Giovanna Canu in her light bijoux; she creates bronze jewelry using the lost-wax method Cristina Serafini Sauli, drawing inspiration from architecture and modern art; made in the Florentine goldsmithing tradition, the custom jewelry of Chilean Constance Schürch; and Vincenzo Spanò presents original bijoux using beads, crystals, resins and colored stones.

For hat enthusiasts: original creations by milliner Francesco Ballestrazzi who, after a past as a professional dancer, decided to try his hand at this sector after the success of an initial proposal of 4 paper hats; suitable for leisure and more formal moments are the handcrafted ones by Creazioni Simonetta.

For those who are looking for ceramics, and other furnishing accessories: at the “Vetrina” space, the Vittoriano Bitossi Foundation-with its Industrial Archives and Museum, the leader of the project “Experimental Ceramic Center of know-how and for technical innovation”-offers training courses of varying degrees to be taken on site to learn the secrets of the ancient craft. They have a vintage flavor, but contemporary in their hand-decorations, the Collebì table accessories from the Antica Manifattura di Collebrunacchi; Valter Cipriani ceramic artifacts are made with the scagliola technique; he creates bonsai trees and plants in brass, stainless steel, gold, and silver from Barone Italia.

FAMILY RECIPES: DONNA GIORGIANA'S PANTRY: HINTS AND SNACKS

Dedicated to Giorgiana Corsini's recipes and her art of setting the table is the 2024 edition of Family Recipes. For the occasion, in collaboration with Annamaria Tossani, a small booklet will be presented with Giorgiana Corsini's recipes accompanied by Sabina Corsini's family memories and watercolor illustrations of the places and special occasions for which they were conceived. Each evening a different mise en place, as Giorgiana Corsini would have created it, and friends and family who will tell curious anecdotes.

MEETINGS

Among the many events, meetings and free workshops open to visitors offered every day by the Exhibition.
At the Rose Garden:

Artisan Perfumeries: “Fragrances in Bloom” (12 noon)

Friday 13: History and Scent of the Peony. A sensory journey through the delicate nuances of the peony immersed in the natural beauty of the Corsini Garden. The peony will guide us in an interactive and engaging experience, from its millennial history to modern extraction and use techniques through its enveloping fragrance, a symbol of beauty and femininity.
Saturday, Feb. 14: Rose, scent of love.Touching the human heart and opening it to listen to emotions is an arduous task that the Rose performs admirably with the complexity of its intense fragrance. Listening to the Rose is like being in front of the dictionary of the soul. A thousand shades one word: Love.
Sunday 15: The deep rich and vibrant scent of Trees. Construction wood, carpenter's wood, cabinetmaker's wood, luthier's wood.... every wood has its own smell, sometimes strong, sometimes weak but all craftsmen and perfume artists recognize by nose the woody notes they use to, create different textures each with its own elegance and character.

“A conversation with...” (3 p.m.)

Friday 13 OMA - Osservatorio Mestieri d'Arte
Saturday 14 ...FlorenceCity of Restoration
Sunday 15 Artex

Family Recipes “La dispensa di donna Giorgiana: hints and snacks ”(6 p.m.)

An exquisite hostess and beloved guest, passionate about cooking and the ritual of fine dining, her recipes will be recounted by family and friends with curious anecdotes.

Daily:

Guided tours of Corsini Garden: at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Workshops (reservations must be made at artigianatoepalazzo.it). Curated by the Ferragamo Foundation, a series of educational workshops to introduce children to the world of crafts and encourage the development of their manual skills, and in the Nun's Garden, many workshops with artisans specializing in trompe-l'œil, wallpaper, wicker weaving, fresco and gold leaf.
They are joined by presentations of the book “The Big Loom. Storie e segreti della manifattura tessile italiana” by Sole 24 Ore journalist Chiara Beghelli, published by Luiss University Press as part of the series ‘Bellissima’ dedicated to the excellence of made in Italy. Speakers, in addition to the author, will be Marco Mantellassi co-Ceo Manteco and Paola Marabelli, Lisio Foundation scientific manager. Eva Desiderio, fashion critic Quotidiano Nazionale, will moderate. And of the volume “Crafting Excellence” by creative consultant Francesca Polizzi, in collaboration with FUL magazine, which investigates the world of high artistic Florentine craftsmanship.
Food Area: in the Orto delle Monache a new selection of food trucks.

HISTORY

ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO was born in Florence in 1995, from an idea of Neri Torrigiani promoted by Giorgiana Corsini, with the intention of preserving and promoting high craftsmanship, the value of handmade and attention to detail.

Already from its name it wants to recall and highlight the strong social relevance of the artisan, whose workshop once thrived around the Palazzo, intended as a “showcase” and a place for experimentation. This allowed for a continuous exchange with patrons of all stripes and offered the craftsman the opportunity to benefit from a direct relationship with the populace as the holder of social aesthetics.

While sinking its assumptions in the furrow of the oldest craft tradition, it aims to highlight the contemporary nature of craftsmanship in order to enhance its figure, work and role in the cultural and commercial context, as a high expression of quality and technique.

The exhibition brings together and presents a new selection of artisans each year and is produced by the Giardino Corsini Association, of which Sabina Corsini is now president.

ARTIGIANATO E PALAZZO - IL TRENTENNALE
September 13 - 15, 2024
Continuous hours 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Corsini Garden
Via della Scala, 115
Via Il Prato, 58

Admission:
Minimum donation € 10.00
Free admission for all young people under 30 thanks to Unicoop Firenze

For information:
www.artigianatoepalazzo.it