Tuscany’s Ceramic Cities — An Invitation to Potter

 

Potter creating on a wheel

Buongiorno Ceramica will be taking place on May 20 and 21, an event hosted every year in the 45 ceramic cities of Italy. In Tuscany, workshops and museums will be opening their doors and encouraging the public to participate in a wide range of free activities relating to the world of ceramics.

Visitors will get the chance to enter workshops, ask questions and learn about the art of ceramics, from the birth of a creative idea through to its completion. Artisans, artists and designers will be on hand to engage with visitors and enrich their understanding of the craft.

But there is more to the event than only theory. The public will also have the opportunity to handle clay and glazes and learn how to use important tools, such as the lathe, for instance, a catch-all piece of equipment that can cut, sand and drill, to name a few of its functions. In short, over the weekend, visitors will gain a deeper appreciation of the art of using our hands to create, an activity that has defined the human race for millennia.

Venues will include workshops and museums (a full list of which can be found following the link below), and interactive courses on offer vary from those with a more collaborative focus to the more individual.

Hosted for the first time in 2018, the event has only grown in popularity since, reflecting a widespread desire to explore the tactile craft and its creative process, and well as re-connect with Italian heritage and ancient traditions that have sculpted the cultural landscape over the centuries.

Particular locations in Tuscany will be enriching the programmes with music and guided tours, all at no extra cost. In Impruneta, for instance, the arts of pottery and music will meet in an elegant, evening union. On May 21 at 9 pm, the Maggio Musicale Orchestra will be performing at the Loggiato del Pellegrino, a 17th century building in the piazza Buondelmonti, home to seven furnaces. Seats will fill on a first-come-first-serve basis. In Montelupo Fiorentino, guided tours will be taking place at the Bitossi Archive Museum and at the artists’ studios. And in Sesto Fiorentino, visitors will get the chance to journey through time, enjoying exhibitions and events that showcase both modern creative works and artefacts manufactured almost 6000 years ago.  (sophie holloway)

For more information, visit the Buongiorno Ceramica website.