Merry Christmas Ceramics! The Event involves 57 cities of ancient ceramic tradition in Italy – Carlo Franza’s blog

He’s back again this year Merry Christmas Ceramics!, the event organized by AiCC – Italian Association of Ceramic Citieswhich involves Italian municipalities historically engaged in the production and cultural promotion of Italian artistic and artisanal ceramics.

More and more lively and active, the 57 cities of ancient ceramic tradition with their presence they testify to the beauty of art in everyday life, participating in the salient moments of community life, first and foremost Christmas.

The annual appointment with Merry Christmas Ceramics! it is the wish that each city wishes to offer to its public, expressed in events gathered under the sign of ceramics between December 2024 and January 2025: exhibitions, concerts, performances and themed workshops, ceramic markets and temporary shopsbut also nativity scenes And ceramic Christmas trees which decorate the historic centers in squares, museums, churches, streets and historic buildings.

As the Christmas holidays approach, the invitation is to travel to discover the cities of Italian ceramics, enriched once again by the know-how, beauty and creativity that makes them unique: that creativity made of ceramic works made in hand, in a spirit of rebirth and hope towards the future, as told by the President of AiCC Massimo Isolaalso Mayor of Faenza:”This year too, the AiCC Christmas event includes a rich calendar of events, displays and animations which take place from north to south throughout the month of December in cities with an established ceramic tradition. With Merry Christmas Ceramics! we wish to make ceramic craftsmanship a central and versatile language, capable of telling ancient and contemporary stories and creating contents and narratives capable of lasting over time”.

The initiatives, which are constantly updated, can be consulted on the site www.buongiornoceramica.it and take place at the same time in the Italian ceramic cities.

Below are some of the initiatives, divided by region.

The AiCC Christmas lights are turned on Liguriato Albissola Marinawhere it is possible to take part in the event until Sunday 15 December Christmas Ceramicsthe exhibition that brings together the works of over 200 participants from all over Italy and abroad. Furthermore, at the Fornace Alba Docilia it is open to the public Contemporary figurine makersdedicated to Nativity scene figurines. To Upper Albisola the exhibition takes place until January 18th The nativity scene in progress by Eliseo Salino set up in the spaces of the Manlio Trucco Ceramics Museum. Continuing along the Ceramics Bay, Savona inaugurates the project Lighting 4 Savonawhere the ceramics come out of the museum to “dress” the monuments and iconic places of the city with bright textures with typical blue and white ceramic decorations.

In Piedmontthe Ceramics Museum of Mondovì is preparing the event Together with the Museum for the Epiphany: this year, it will be the students of the Multimedia Artistic Specialization who will create the trophies up for grabs for the Epiphany International Aerostatic Rally competitions. Furthermore, under the upper porticoes of Piazza Maggiore, the “Vecchia Mondovì” Ceramics Association has set up an exhibition of unique objects produced and decorated by hand by the associated ceramists, inspired by the Christmas holidays.

In Lombardyat the MIDeC of Laveno Mombello the exhibition is open until January 5th A man, a woman and a child. Ceramic Icons of the Nativity: A Western and Catholic Tradition. The theme of the nativity returns to be the protagonist of the Museum’s Christmas calendar, showcasing some ceramic nativity scenes made in the second half of the last century.

In Venetoa NineThe “Nove terra di ceramic” association and the Collettivo Ceramicoscopio will open the experimental high-temperature wood-fired oven designed by Antonio Bonaldi on Saturday 21 December: the pieces, with glazing effects generated by the ash, will subsequently be exhibited to the public. Furthermore, the Municipality of Nove, in collaboration with “La Confraternita dee Bae”, presents the traditional Christmas trees with ceramic spheres decorated by international artists and children from the city’s primary school.

In Emilia-Romagnathe city of Faenza is ready to experience a December full of events including inaugurations, exhibitions and themed performances. Among these, the Carlo Zauli Museum has set up inside the Christmas Temporary Shopa space active until December 23rd dedicated to the sale of the now famous limited editions, accompanied by a busy calendar of installations and meetings dedicated to the ceramic theme.

In Marchethe celebrations begin Appignano with the initiative Christmas postcards and atmospheresa widespread exhibition of nativity scenes, Christmas trees and postcards made by Appignano ceramists using clay, engobes, glazes and decorations according to different styles. Ascoli Picenoin the setting of the Anffas Ceramics Laboratory of Ascoli Piceno APS, the event will take place on 19 December from 10 am Christmas in Ceramicsthe Christmas party in which it will be possible to try the ceramic workshop together with the Anffas kids and admire an exhibition of Christmas objects made during the daily workshops. Again in the Marche, for the entire Christmas period in Fratte Rosa the initiative will take place Merry Christmas at the Borgowith an exhibition of ceramic creations in the historic center of the village created during a collaboration with the local Montessorian primary school and during workshops with children and parents.

Merry Christmas Ceramics! continue in TuscanyWhere Montelupo Fiorentino is preparing to experience a month full of events thanks to the Christmas programme Montelupo Christmasscheduled from 8 to 23 December. In addition to the exhibitions Lands of Spices And Montelupo Shipyards 2024which will remain open until January 7, the lighting of the tree located in the central Piazza della Libertà represents an innovative homage to the ceramic tradition of Montelupo Fiorentino. Still in Tuscany, Asciano will celebrate the celebrations of the Madonna of Loreto on December 15th by presenting to the public a ceramic statue, the work of the artist Giulia Boscagli.

In Pugliatakes place in Grottaglieinside the Episcopio Castle, until January 7th, the 45th Nativity Scene Exhibition. The works on display depict the iconographic tradition of the Holy Family, preserving the original concept of the Nativity scene to give life to a cultural journey that unites different traditions, stories and shared values.

In Campaniain the city of Cerreto Sannitathe works presented in the Competition Presepiarte…the nativity and its perennial message of love and peace they will be on display inside the Monumental Cloister of Palazzo S. Antonio, adjacent to the Cerretese Ceramics Museum, until January 6th.

Merry Christmas Ceramics! continue in Sicilywhere a Santo Stefano di Camastra the widespread exhibition takes place until January 6th Nativity scenes under the archeswhich showcases various representations of the nativity interpreted by artisans and artists from the local ceramics sector.

TO Caltagironewithin the scope of Lumina 2024, Christmas in Caltagironeinaugurated the exhibition on Saturday 23 November inside the Municipal Palace Nativitas XXIV which presents three distinct visual itineraries curated by the cultural association “i Ceramisti di Caltagirone”. The event thus aims to promote the vast thousand-year-old heritage of ceramic production in Caltagirone and Sicilian ceramics on the occasion of the Christmas holidays. Finally, the artist of Monreale Nicolò Giuliano presents at the Falcone Borsellino Airport in the city of Palermo his last Monumental Nativity Scene; a unique work characterized by profound meanings that fully reflects the artist’s thought and art.

Merry Christmas Ceramics! it is a project in progress, in which the cities participating in theItalian Association of Ceramic Cities. The 57 cities of ancient ceramic tradition are: Acquapendente, Albisola Superiore, Albissola Marina, Appignano, Ariano Irpino, Asciano, Ascoli Piceno, Assemini, Bassano del Grappa, Borgo San Lorenzo, Burgio, Calitri, Caltagirone, Calvello, Castellamonte, Castelli, Cava de’ Tirreni, Celle Ligure, Cerreto Sannita, Città di Castello, Civita Castellana, Collesano, Cutrofiano, Deruta, Este, Faenza, Fratte Rosa, Grottaglie, Gualdo Tadino, Gubbio, Impruneta, Laterza, Laveno Mombello, Lodi, Matera, Mondovì, Monreale, Montelupo Fiorentino, Naples-Capodimonte, Nove, Oristano, Orvieto, Pesaro, Rutigliano, San Lorenzello, San Pietro in Lama, Santo Stefano di Camastra, Savona, Sciacca, Sesto Fiorentino, Squillace, Tarquinia, Terlizzi, Umbertide, Urbania, Vietri sul Mare, Viterbo.

The event is part of the tradition of national events organized by AiCC and characterized by specific themes: Good morning Ceramics!, Red Ceramic Shoes, CerAmicAbile And Concrete Hunger.

Carlo Franza