Lego tables, antique furniture, cutters, saws, machinery, nails and hammers. This is the natural habitat of Pierpaolo Martini, from Faenza, restorer and carpenter. A habitat that, however, in two floods of May 2023, risked losing. His two laboratories were flooded with water. But a violin built by five friends and former classmates of the Cremona Violin Making School, expert luthiers, it will help to put things back on track his business and beyond.
The violin born from the flood: built by 5 expert luthiers
The precious instrument has already played in concert in Bagnacavallo and will soon play in Mantua, Cremona and at the Teatro Masini in Faenza, in the end-of-year concert of the Artistation music school, then probably for other dates in June. «Proceeds from concerts it will go to the Faenza community, probably to the same one Artistation music school which suffered enormous damage from the floods”, explains Martini.
«Then the idea is to resell the violin and with the proceeds to get my laboratory back on track – he adds -. But it is not a simple operation, because it is a high-end instrument and therefore it would cost a lot. I’m testing the waters in Ravenna and Cesena, I’d like it to remain with someone who understands its history. I don’t want to sell him short, because I believe that his story, a violin born from a floodboth an added value and also the fact of being built by five hands it is quite unique». However, the risk is that, by relying on a retailer, it could end up on the eastern market, in China or Korea.
The damage of the flood: one laboratory destroyed, the other saved but the machinery was lost
Until last May, Martini had two laboratories: one where he carried out the work (in Mulino dell’Isola, on the road to go to Modigliana) and one where he held carpentry courses for adults and children (in the center of Faenza).
«Already at the first flood, on May 3, in the first laboratory the water had reached 2 meters; in the second it reached the ceiling – he says -. Today there is still water coming out of the walls and the risk of another flood is too much, so I won’t reopen it. In the second, fortunately, the water reached 60 centimeters, saving the electrical system.” One of the biggest problems, however, was the loss of machinery, both large and expensive ones and routine ones, such as power tools of which he lost about thirty. The equipment losses hit both labs hard.
Pierpaolo Martini’s luck was that a few months before the flood, there had been a reunion of his class at the School of Violin Making after 35 years. «When they started hearing about the flooding in Faenza, my former companions started calling and asking how they could help. They convinced me to create a crowdfunding. Then they decided to come down as volunteers. I am very grateful to him,” she says.
«The fundraising went very well and I am grateful, friends from all over Italy supported me. Without the help of these people and some private individuals, I would not have made it. At the moment, I have not received anything from the State and, in fact, I will have to pay taxes on donations, as an activity. Unfortunately I’m starting to think that they want to take us out of exhaustion”, he concludes.
