A celebration of the cultural and artisanal ties between Italy and Japan

The exhibition Italy and Japan: Marvellous Liaisons offers a fascinating journey to discover the talent, the originality and the fertility of a powerful dialogue, which continues to develop to this day, founded on the beauty of knowledge and crafting.

Vase crafted by Lino Tagliapietra©All rights reserved

• A tribute to the fertile relationship between Italy and Japan in the arts, cultural exchanges and interdisciplinary dialogues
• Honouring the role that Venice has played in nurturing a shared cultural heritage between the two countries
• A showcase of objects handcrafted by Italian master artisans and inspired by Japan

Visitors to Homo Faber Event 2022 will get the chance to see the exhibition Italy and Japan: Marvellous Liaisons curated and produced by the Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte (curator of the exhibition and event partner). The exhibition draws on the wealth of cultural and aesthetic references that have crossed time and space in order to inspire some of the greatest Italian master artisans, whose works will serve here as a special tribute to the ongoing dialogue between the two countries.

Over the course of the centuries, Italy and Japan have established fertile and productive relationships in the arts, cultural exchanges and interdisciplinary dialogues. Venice in particular has always played (and still continues to play) a prominent role in building and nurturing “marvellous liaisons” between the two countries that are so rich in history, culture and fine craftsmanship, where “beauty” is constantly created in all its manifold shapes.

The craftspeople singled out to represent this dialogue are contemporary master artisans committed to passing on their savoir- faire, and who in most cases have been designated as “MAM – Maestro d’Arte e Mestiere”, the Italian equivalent of the Japanese National Living Treasures. Their carefully selected works represent the liaison between exotic inspiration and fine craftsmanship, which expresses itself in decorative motifs, techniques, materials and formal approaches that the masters skilfully interpret in the name of excellence (a feature called makoto by the Japanese masters).

Intended as a tribute to a cultural exchange that renews itself day after day, this exhibition bears witness to how Italy and Japan have always maintained a close relationship, often mediated by Venice itself. In fact, the first delegation of Japanese noblemen arrived in Italy in 1585. During their visit to the Republic of Venice, the young dignitaries were honoured with magnificent objects of fine craftsmanship: silk, brocade and splendidly crafted precious creations. And it was in Venice that, towards the end of the 19th century, the need arose to study not only the Japanese language but also the culture, in order to facilitate important exchanges between Italy and the Land of the Rising Sun. This intuition triggered the creation of the first nucleus of what has now become the degree programme in oriental languages at Ca’ Foscari, one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

The Italian master artisans selected for the exhibition are:

• Giovanni and Vincenzo Barbini, Barbini Specchi Veneziani, Venice
• Sergio Boldrin, La Bottega dei Mascareri, Venice
• Giovanni Bonotto, Bonotto, Colceresa (Vicenza)
• Compagnia Marionettistica Carlo Colla & Figli, Milan
• Giuditta Doro, Alchymia, Lentate sul Seveso (Monza e Brianza)
• Platimiro Fiorenza, Gioielleria Rossocorallo, Trapani
• Lorenzo Foglia, Argenteria Foglia, Florence
• Ginori 1735, Florence
• Istituto Caselli e Real Fabbrica di Capodimonte, Naples
• Egidio Lunardelli, Venice
• Daniele Nencioni, Florence
• Sonia Maria Luce Possentini, Modena
• Gianluca Pacchioni, Milan
• Francesco Raimondi, Vietri sul Mare (Salerno)
• Giuseppe and Emanuele Rivadossi, Nave (Brescia)
• Renzo and Leonardo Scarpelli, Le Pietre nell’Arte, Florence
• Lino Tagliapietra, Murano (Venice)
• Kii Toyoharu, Scuola dei Mosaicisti del Friuli, Spilimbergo (Udine)
• Giordano Viganò, Novedrate (Como)

Italy and Japan: Marvellous Liaisons is set in the Cypress Cloister Hall at Fondazione Giorgio Cini. It is one of 15 exhibitions that comprise Homo Faber Event 2022, organised by the Michelangelo Foundation.