«Institutions, despite the many cultural battles, have not yet separated artistic craftsmanship from the generic profession of craftsman». Ugo La Pietra for Lampoon
The is no separation of artistic craftsmanship from the generic profession of craftsman
Institutions, despite the many cultural battles, have not yet separated artistic craftsmanship from the generic profession of craftsman: which includes, among other professions, hairdressers, electricians etc. Even the education sector has now relieved itself of the commitment to keep alive the last garrison of this artistic area, with the dismantling of Art Institutes along with the Italian reform of 2010.
This cultural territory, one of artistic craftsmanship, remains unrecognized by the Institutions — meaning no Biennale, Museum of Applied Arts or Artistic Crafts — and is little explored even by the private sector — few are the galleries that offer art, the applied arts, and design with ease.
In Italy artistic craftsmanship is practiced for cultural tradition, and sometimes in an excessive way. There are many artisans who work wood with manual techniques in our valleys from the North to the South; there are many artisans who work with ceramics in about thirty homogeneous areas, from Faenza to Caltagirone, Nove to Grottaglie; and there are many artisans who work stone, from Lecce to Vicenza stone, from lava stone to Carrara marble.
The list is long. The multitude of these willing artist-artisans clashes with their mistrust in our system, which has not yet succeeded in valorizing this area and needs to be linked internationally with what is known as craft in Europe to enjoy a different attention from institutions, markets and collectors.
The difficulty in distinguishing the fine from the modest works
Amidst the sea of artisans, it is not easy to distinguish the fine from the modest works — or simply even mediocre ones that are often the result of the cultural isolation in which these artisans operate. Today, much of this territory is defined time and again: instant antiques, artistic designs, neo-craftsmanship, and then dismissed with the definition of swarming frenetic activity of research and minor production.
This territory should be recognized as a design and production practice to be defined as artistic craftsmanship, a discipline identified by its own autonomous language, distinct from art and industrial design; a discipline that looks intently at the world of production, yet without becoming directly involved in it and instead dealing with objects that are often practically related to use.
Artfully made – contemporary artistic craftsmanship is sensitivity
The growth of this design and production area, made up of unique and small series objects, has often made mention of artistic design — I am merely pointing to the growth of a trend, within which new values can be found: those related to the recovery of history, experimentation and research.
This trend consists of artfully made objects laden with signs of material culture and aimed at the most varied social groups. It represents a new way of thinking about the object with- out the need for the rules of the art world, such as that which states a work is Art only if it is recognized by the art market, while the critic defines Art as everything that is in art history books.
Contemporary artistic craftsmanship is made up of works that elude the art critic’s classification and have represented and represent the evolution of society. They belong to our culture. What is manifest, as a character of contemporary artistic craftsmanship, is the sensitivity of this area to the quantity of productive realities (from small artisans to cooperatives, from small businesses to mass production) hitherto set aside and ignored by the culture because they are unable to organize mass production for large numbers.
The value of good artistic craftsmanship today
We are questioning the globalization of markets and, as Italians, whose reality (of regions and provinces, monuments, foods and traditions) has always exalted diversity, we should encourage this path — one of diversity versus globalization. The value of good artistic craftsmanship today is to be understood not only for its spirit of research and experimentation, but also for its eclectic attitude.
This area is also becoming oriented in the search for elements that are related to our environment; or rather to the different territories that still exist in our country. Such features are able to differentiate an object, characterize the creative thinking and manual process of the sedimented values of a particular territory.
The recovery of artisanal workshops
A major center of design and production, in order to survive and characterize itself — especially at an international level — requires: the recovery of workshops in our schools to give continuity to the model of the artisanal workshop; the creation of dedicated museums and cultural institutions; the design of a commercial system of galleries and collecting; the promotion of service companies for homogeneous areas of traditional crafts that are capable of providing small business with projects, communication and a sales system;
and the dissemination among citizens, as potential users of works of artistic craftsmanship, of specific cultures and knowledge related to the added value that is based not only on the signature of a designer, but also on the peculiarities of various processing techniques and the skillful use of materials that are often the result of knowledge that has been handed down from generation to generation and is rooted in millenary traditions — those which we have a responsibility to recognize, preserve and revitalize.
Ugo La Pietra
Architect by trade, artist, filmmaker, editor, musician, cartoonist and teacher. Art and design encompasses La Pietra’s world, resulting in him defining himself as a researcher in communications systems and visual arts for decades. As the curator for multiple exhibitions across Italy and internationally, he has been acclaimed to maintain a humanistic and territorial component in his works. La Pietra has curated exhibitions for, among others, the Triennale di Milano, the Venice Biennale, the Musée d’art contemporaine de Lyon, the FRAC Center in Orléans and the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza.
