Craftsmanship had a moment of great prestige and public attention with the Arts & Crafts movement, which was born in England and spread throughout Europe before Modernity. Our exhibition design has wanted to rescue a fundamental book from that time, “The Seven Lamps of Architecture”, written in 1849 by John Ruskin because, although he is dedicated to architecture, the reflections on craftsmanship and its applications are abundant and core.
In the exhibition area, there are seven large lamps. Each will offer a separate area of observation, dialogue or work that will encourage reflection and will be presided over by two words. On the one hand, we will find the original words that Ruskin used to name his lamps: sacrifice, truth, power, beauty, life, memory, and obedience. On the other hand, we will discover more contemporary values that have replaced or nuanced Ruskin’s positions: sustainability, transparency, equity, culture, ecology, identity, and innovation.
The comparison between the words exposes the curatorial hypothesis of the installation: craftsmanship has gone from being appreciated by individual values, such as those that could be associated with a person, by their collective values.
Lamp 1. From Sacrifice to Sustainability.
The boats that make up these lamps combine handmade prints and those that would make the sea and the sun.
Lamp 2. From Truth to Transparency.
Our lamp plays with the concepts of transparency and truth to invite us to reflect on how, today, transparency is the dominant political aspiration.
Lamp 3. From Power to Equity.
Our third lamp mixes precious prints, considered feminine and austere or masculine, as a sign of that struggle for equity.
Lamp 4. From Beauty to Culture.
Immersing yourself under our dome of mirrors, trying to find the references and cultural inspirations behind the pieces!
Lamp 5. From Life to Ecology.
In our lamp, configured as a great mobile mechanism, we balance product and raw material, aesthetic decision, and ecological congruence.
Lamp 6. From memory to Identity.
Our lamp, composed of chestnut wood baskets, speaks of a town balanced with its environment, austere and generous, hardworking, and prudent.
Lamp 7. From Obedience to Innovation.
In the creative process of today’s craftsmanship, learning from the past alternates with experiments and tests, and the final product is full of roots but also surprises.
