Madrid - Madrid welcomes Grand Tour: Archetypes of Italian Ceramics, a journey through the fundamental forms that define the identity of Italian ceramic art. Curated by Viola Emaldi, the showcase is hosted in the Spazio Dante at the Palacio de Abrantes—home to the Italian Cultural Institute in Madrid—as part of the broader exhibition The Great Ceramic Work (La Grande Opera ceramica), curated by Enzo Biffi Gentili.
The overall exhibition offers an alchemical and aestheticized reading of 20th-century and contemporary Italian ceramics, featuring works by renowned artists including Edgardo Abbozzo, Chiara Berta, Ugo Marano, Bertozzi&Casoni, Carlo Previtali, Paolo Schmidlin, Riccardo Monachesi, Maurizio Tittarelli Rubboli, alongside guest of honor Arturo Mora from Spain.
Presented by the AicC (Associazione Italiana Città della Ceramica), the exhibition takes an unconventional approach to Italian artistic ceramics, delving into their symbolic, technical, and spiritual dimensions. Within this framework, Grand Tour acts as a complementary side project focused on traditional material culture.
Open to the public from October 13 through November 14, the exhibition draws inspiration from Antoni Gaudí’s famous declaration: "Originality consists of returning to the origin", chosen as both a thematic lens and a fitting homage to the host nation. Amphoras, pitchers, flasks, pots, jugs, and traditional vessels for water and cooking tell the story of a material culture built on ingenuity and intergenerational wisdom. These essential, timeless forms are deeply rooted in local communities: objects refined over centuries of daily use that distill local identities and domestic practices into a living geography of archetypes spanning from Piedmont to Sardinia, and Liguria to Sicily. (9colonne)