ARTISAN FOR AN HOUR

Gianpaolo, screen printer

A tour inside the discovery of screen-silk printing, a technique that allows you to experiment with colors and make a reproducible work of art while maintaining its uniqueness. The hands-on workshop takes place in the historic silkscreen laboratory of Cannaregio, in a unique and authentic Venice where art and tradition come together and come to life in the ancient crafts of the artisan workshops. Immersed in an archive consisting of more than a thousand works of art printed from 1968 to present, you will learn the secrets of the silkscreen and you will experience the printing of a one-color graphic on a support you choose among cardboard, t-shirt or canvas bag, which you'll take home as a souvenir of a creative and unusual adventure.

VENEZIA, Ve

THE BESPOKE SHOES LAB

Olivia, shoe maker and designer

I would love to welcome you in my world, where vintage tools and modern machineries are connected by an endless passion for this work. I will tell you about the whole process through which an handcrafted shoe is made, starting from the one-to-one design method to the one-of-a-kind actual realization. The visit will last approximately one hour and an half.

PESARO, Pu

PRINTING AND ENGRAVING

Agnes, ceramist

I also love engravings along with printing techniques on nylon slabs, in my workshop I have a press roller that will allow us to print manually. All you have to bring with you - apart from comfortable clothes and a apron - is a nice photo or a drawing (if you do not have one we will provide one for you). In the first part of this workshop you will engrave what you wish on the nylon sheet with a cold engraving needle. Then we will have a brief rest in the atelier, have a chat and a small vegetarian lunch (glass of wine included). We will then start again and prepare the stencil to be printed: colored or not they will be put to soak. When the paper and your stencils are ready we will print a first copy to check the quality of the engravings: if you are not satisfied with some of the details you will have the opportunity to correct them. After that we will do the final print! You will be able to take home the various copies in a folder along with your stencil. If the copies are still too wet to bring home I will send them to you during the next few days (the sending price to Italy is included in the price of the workshop).

COMO, Co

CLAY AND NATURE IN POSITANO

Elisabetta, sculptress

Immersed in the luxuriant and wild nature that this territory still offers in abundance. Along the hills cordillera of the Peninsula, going down towards the breath-taking coasts. There where at sunrise and sunset you can spot dolphins jumping through the waves. Among so much beauty, we'll find the inspiration, in its harmonious geometries and in the perfume of its colors. We'll create objects by using clay gathered exactly in these places. We'll immerse ourselves in moments where the nature will create with us, filling ourselves with its most luxuriant expression. We'll shape our precious artworks in an upland in front of a 360° view. We'll decorate by observing the geometry of a leaf or using the streaked surface of a shell found on the cliffs. Listening the symphony of the breeze among the branches in a little clearing. In the evening we'll fire our objects relaxing ourselves around the fire. This creative path will occur at the “Rifugio La Selva” in Positano. It's an evocative place with the slopes of Montepertuso behind his back. The perfect location for this workshop that will accompany us for a full day.

POSITANO, Sa

THE WEAVING ART IN PERUGIA

Marta, weaver

Welcome to my atelier in the heart of Perugia! It will be a pleasure to host you in my atelier, the former Church of San Francesco delle Donne, a deconsecrated building that in 1200AD was the first Franciscan church in Perugia. Since 1996, the hand-weaving workshop of Giuditta Brozzetti—my great-grandmother and founder of the atelier—has been based in these magnificent premises, and today it is one of the last places in Italy to practice hand-weaving. I will tell you the history of the workshop, started in 1921 with the intuition of Giuditta who recovered traditional motifs and designs from the Umbrian territory and founded the workshop-school for the production of high quality artistic fabrics for home furnishings. Millennial techniques and ancient production phases are still used today to create incredibly contemporary fabrics of historical inspiration. I will show you our artistic production that has been hand-woven in linen, cotton, silk, cashmere blend and gold and silver laminate on antique eighteenth-century pedal looms and nineteenth-century Jacquard looms. You will understand the functioning of our imposing Jacquard looms and of my beloved original loom of the 1700s, with which I still make copies of the fabrics found in the frescoes by Pinturicchio, Giotto, and Luca Signorelli, but also the initial phase of the work process: the preparation of the warp and weft, set up with a machine that was modified by Leonardo da Vinci, according to a system that is more than 500 years old! After discovering the secrets of production, you will test yourself under my guide, creating a decorative tassel made with the yarns I use for my production, which you can take home with you as a souvenir of the experience!

PERUGIA, Pg

THE PILGRIM’S NOTEBOOK

Lucia e Hans, bookbinder

The experience involves the creation of a notebook made of paper, leather, and string (of about 8x13cm in size). You may choose your favorite colored leather from the many in the bookbinding workshop. With Hans and Lucia’s guidance, you will be able to follow the different workshop phases, which include a medieval technique in the preparation of the paper sheets, which are sewn and bound directly onto the leather cover. This way, book cover and stitching make a single piece and the notebook will be ready in just a few steps. You may also personalize it with graphic or floral motifs, or with your initials, directly embossing the chosen decoration on the surface. Finally, a leather string around the notebook will help tie it shut.

VITERBO, Vt

YOUR MICROMOSAIC JEWEL

Alessandra e Silvia, mosaic

In this experience we offer you something absolutely unique, a journey through the history of micromosaic! We will then show you the spinning of the glazes for the preparation of the tesserae and the authentic composition of the stucco. You will then be able to choose a semi-finished piece of jewelry that you will complete by making your own micromosaic. At the end of the workshop you will take home your own unique and original piece of jewelry!

ROMA, Rm

THE SECRET COLORS OF LANDS

Elisabetta, sculptress

With this experience I'm offering an evocative journey through the ages. I'll show you the manufacturing of soils and of their colors. I'll tell you and I'll let you try, manually, the fascinating working technique used by the potters of the Roman times. They were considered as great artists, so much that their artworks were valued as gold! I'll guide you through the handmade creation of small jewels and other objects of your choice. You can bring them with you, or better, I'll send them to you once they are fired. Through this workshop you'll find out the connections of our territory with the ancient past. This is in fact characterized by the population of “Stabiae” (the current Castellammare di Stabia), which was the favorite “holiday destination” of patricians. If weather permits, we'll work open air with a panoramic view on the Naples Gulf, with the majestic Vesuvio in front of us.

CASTELLAMMARE DI STABIA, Na

IN THE SIGN OF

Maria Josè, restorer

Do you want to learn the techniques of the XVI century knowledge? We'll show you and tell you our manual skills in restoration, in faithful reproduction of vintage furniture, in cabinetmaking, in painting and gilding. We'll re-experience emotions, the study, the passion in doing the faithful reproduction of the “Studiolo del Duca di Montefeltro”, of which the original is located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. We'll have lunch together in a typical restaurant of Gubbio. Later we'll go together to see the replica of the “Studiolo del Duca di Montefeltro”. We created it and now it is possible to see it in its original location, at the Doge's Palace in Gubbio. In this important context, you'll have the chance to admire other fine artifacts that we restored.

GUBBIO, Pg