VALENZA – From 16 to 18 May the Valenza Jewelry Week. The event, created by Municipality of Valenza in collaboration with Roma Jewelry Week and Mani Intelligenti Foundation, is aimed at enhancing the culture of jewelery and goldsmith arts as well as of historical and intangible heritage of one of the most important gold districts in Italy. The event, which was born from the desire of the creators of the Rome Jewelry Week to bring the project to other cities in Italy, will have a widespread programme, as anticipated during the exhibition “Ri-Trovamenti. The jewel between Rome and Valenza”, created at the Napoleonic Museum in Rome. The exhibition in the capital saw the participation of Valencian master goldsmiths in dialogue with those of the Neo Roman School of contemporary jewellery, who will participate in VJW 2024.
The protagonists of the Valenza Jewelry Week, therefore, will be the creations of goldsmith artists and jewelry designers, students, pupils and young talents from Rome and all over Italy, who will dialogue with those of the Valenza goldsmith masters. The Italian jewel in Valenza: a meeting aimed at enhancing Italian creativity, in order to promote the excellence of the “know-how” that has made Made in Italy unique, appreciated throughout the world. A priceless heritage that must be preserved and handed down.
They are scheduled for the inauguration, which will be held on Thursday 16 May two openings of the scheduled exhibitions, one at Palazzo Valentino – Municipal Culture Center and the other at the Valenzana Goldsmith Art Exhibition Center. The evening will end with a cocktail and jazz music. At the Municipal Culture Center there is an exhibition of jewels made by companies, master goldsmiths, authors and designers from all over Italy, who will dialogue with each other and with the site specific installation, dedicated to the theme of the exhibition, created by the artist Antonio De Luca. The colors of the precious gems set in the jewels on display will compare with the material painting, delicate and at the same time incisive, proposed by the painter. The creations of students and alumni of the European Institute of Design of Rome and Turin and of the Accademia Italiana will also be on display at the Municipal Cultural Center. The alumni of IED Turin will present some projects created in collaboration with some companies present in the area.
An exhibition dedicated to the prestigious goldsmith tradition of Valenza will be set up at the Valencian Goldsmith Art Exhibition Center which will be represented by some of the historic companies of the district.
The Valenza Jewelry Week 2024, with the theme “Gems and stones. Nature becomes a jewel, shaped by creativity”, wants to highlight and enhance the important union between jewels and stones. A fundamental relationship for the design of the expressive form of the aesthetics of the little one. Each jewel on display will be the fruit of an intimate dialogue between metal and stone, where the material comes to life through the expert hands of master goldsmiths, who enhance its synergy. In the collective imagination, precious stones are associated with rocks, minerals, with something amorphous that takes the form of a jewel only and exclusively through creativity and “know-how”. This step is fundamental, as important as it is now taken for granted. The creative process starts from knowing how to grasp the primary essence of the gem, and this presupposes the conscious choice to identify its expressive quality, to be translated into terms of narrative value. In the act of choosing a stone there is recognition of what it can express, whether this is a fact or a belief of the person who shapes it. The new edition of VJW focuses on the creative act and becomes an opportunity for reflection and valorization of knowing how to imagine and knowing how to do, two complementary actions that determine the close relationship of the transformation process of natural stone to shaped stone; an act through which the gem aspires to sublimate the expressive research of the jewel as an art form.
With the aim of making Valenza’s historical and cultural heritage known and rediscovering the centenary history of Valencian goldsmith art, a route has been created with visits to some workshops and places of interest in the area, scheduled for Friday and Saturday morning. Always Friday, the Social Theater will be animated by ideas and inspirations thanks to in-depth talks with a focus on the world of stones, one aimed at the world of schools and one oriented towards professionals and professionals. The day will end with a closing event at the Teatro Sociale with musical entertainment accompanied by the food and wine excellences of the area.
The event is scheduled to finish on Saturday 18 May at the Valenzana Goldsmith’s Art Exhibition Centre.
In line with the objectives of the Mani Intelligenti Foundation and those of the RJW, the Valenza Jewelry Week will have a focus on training, with the aim of encouraging and supporting the goldsmith’s art among young people, promoting professional inclusion, supporting the ideals of the Foundation and creating a solid bridge between tradition and innovation. With the co-organization of the Director of the “Paolo e Rita Borsellino” Comprehensive Institute, Prof. Maurizio Primo Carandini, on Friday and Saturday we will follow a journey through the area that will combine the magic of music with precious gems, accompanied by the students of the middle and high schools, who are entrusted with the task of making the city alive and even more beautiful, through their creations.
Also starring were the children of the fourth and fifth primary classes, visitors to the places of interest included in the route and Ce.St.In.Geo players. Board Game “The City of Gold and Diamonds”, a unique and exclusive board game that unfolds between the history of the city and its goldsmith skills. A significant contribution will also come from the high goldsmith training schools: For.AL “Vincenzo Melchiorre” which will open its exhibition space for the occasion and ITS GEM which will raise awareness of the school and its laboratories.
The IIS “Benvenuto Cellini” will welcome visitors in the gemological laboratory named after Professor Speranza Cavenago Bignami. Inside the courtyard of the “Paolo e Rita Borsellino” Comprehensive Institute, the Golden House will be open to the public. Saturday morning will be dedicated to the exhibitions, schools and designers who will accompany visitors until the finissage of the event scheduled at the Valenzana Goldsmith’s Art Exhibition Center.
“The Municipality of Valenza has for years supported cultural and exhibition initiatives aimed at enhancing and promoting the prestigious goldsmith tradition of the Valencian district. As Administrators we are convinced of the importance that these initiatives have for the definition of a cultural, artistic and productive identity of the city. From this perspective, the Municipality’s collaboration with the Roma Jewelry Week and the Mani Intelligenti Foundation took shape for the organization of an international event aimed at promoting jewelery as a work of art resulting from creative and high profile craftsmanship. The event will also be an opportunity to exhibit the creations resulting from the work of young people who train at Valencian schools and at Italian design institutes. In this, the Municipality has found important allies in the school managers and teachers who work in the Valencian schools and who, with passion and dedication, train the talents of the future” this is what the mayor comments Maurizio Oddone and the councilor for cultural heritage Alessia Zaio.
The list of leading companies: Annaratone, Barberis Carlo, Barzizza, Ceva Gioielli, Crivelli, Damiani, Deambrogio Fratelli, Digo Valentina Callegher, Giorgio Visconti, Guerci Pallavidini, Leo Pizzo, Margherita Burgener, Monile – Jewels of Italy, Moraglione, Palmiero Gioielli, Pasquale Bruni, Raselli Franco , RCM Gioielli, Recarlo, Vendorafa, Verdi Gioielli, Vhernier
The artists: Alter avant-garde – Neo Roman School: Laura Abramo, Ivan Barbato, Fabio Cappelli, Glauco Cambi, Remigio Maria Caserta, Flavia Diamanti, Andrea De Luca, Michele Forlenza, Claudio and Roberto Franchi, Marco Fulli, Paolo Mangano, Fabrizio Negri, Raimondo Oliviero – edited by Claudio Franchi
Incinque Open Art Gallery Monti: Maria Gaia Piccini (Fi), Francesco Ridolfi (RN), Simone Vera Bath, Lorella Verrillo
Rome: Italo Calvarese, Cristiana Perali
Florence: Bruno Villani
Bari: Enza de Pinto
Naples: Marco Mormile
Cetrano (CS): Simone Cipolla
Rome-Milazzo: Antonia Ascolillo, Igor Quagliata (designer former students-IED Rome)
Site specific installation: Antonio De Luca
Schools and Academies: Goldsmith School For.AL “Vincenzo Melchiorre”, IIS “Benvenuto Cellini”, Istituto Comprensivo “Paolo e Rita Borsellino”, ITS – GEM, Educational Directorate Valenza “Don Minzoni” and “7 Fratelli Cervi”
IED – ROME – Students: Lisa Dal Pont (Winner of the RJW), Marta Ferrara, Leonardo Funaro, Hyekyung Lee, Chiara Quatrale, Giorgia Rossi
IED – TURIN – Students: Angela Borracci, Edoardo Cerello, Aurora Ceretti, NoémieFuchs, Lodovica Gay, Camilla Godano, Lorenzo Mazara; Alumni: Rebecca Costantino, Alessandro Paone
ITALIAN ACADEMY – ROME – Students: Sebastiano Cornia, Giulia Gastaldi, Cristian Imperiale, Klara Mattstedt, Francesca Pallaoro
To date, the event has obtained the support and contribution of various bodies including the Cassa di Risparmio di Alessandria Foundation, the SLALA Foundation and the Alessandria-Asti Chamber of Commerce.
The initiative has currently received the patronage of: Province of Alessandria, CNA – Artisans Union, Confcommercio Alessandria, Confindustria Alessandria, Consultation for the Valorization of the Artistic and Cultural Heritage of Alessandria, Federorafi, Fondazione Viva. Thanks for their precious collaboration to the Cirri, Greco and Zanchetta families.
Tags: Valenza Jewelry Week returns program
