It will be titled “Arturo Martini. The Weave of Dreams. Fabrics, Ceramics, Paintings,” and will feature six never-before-seen textile works by the Treviso-based artist, who chose Vado Ligure and the Savona area as his heartland. Known so far only as drawings mentioned in critical literature, the actual execution of which was unknown, the carpets were designed in the late 1920s by Martini and made by MITA – Manifattura italiana tappeti artistici of Genoa Nervi for the newly established furniture company DIANA – Decorazioni Industrie Artistiche Nuovi Arredamenti of architect Mario Labò.
The exhibition, scheduled from March 22 to July 15, 2024 at the Museum of Ceramics in Savona, with an in-depth look also in the spaces of the city’s Pinacoteca Civica, is conceived and promoted by the Lino Berzoini Association, Center for the Study and Development of Art, and the Savona Museum of Ceramics Foundation. The exhibition is curated by Carla Bracco, Magda Tassinari and Donatella Ventura, with scientific contributions from Wolfsoniana – Palazzo Ducale Fondazione per la Cultura in Genoa and Museo Luigi Bailo in Treviso. The exhibition has the support of the De Mari Foundation and the City of Savona and is included among the events promoting Savona’s candidacy as Capital of Culture 2027.
Unexpected as much as exceptional, this incredible find will be the starting point of a new narrative around Martini’s artistic oeuvre, with about 50 works on display, including plastic, pictorial, graphic, textile and, of course, ceramic works. he exhibition will explore themes such as dreams, fairy tales, childhood and play (even in adulthood) and is a natural continuation of the “Arturo Martini” project, curated by the Lino Berzoini Association and the same group of curators in spring-summer 2021.
For the duration of the exhibition, the second floor of the Museo della Ceramica will also host a display of Martini-inspired textiles and ceramics created by artist Alessandro Teoldi (Milan, 1987), in partnership with Shanghai-based gallery Capsule 胶囊上海.
“We are very proud to bring this important find to the public’s attention, which also gives us the opportunity to investigate some aspects of Arturo Martini’s work that are still little or not at all known,” said Luciano Pasquale, president of the Savona Ceramics Museum Foundation. “An artist who in part had made this land his home. The exhibition, the first to expand our research beyond ceramic art, underscores the increasingly active role of the Savona Ceramics Museum within the local, national and international cultural scene.”
