News
November 2023
The 2023 edition of the Mini Master 2023 of “A School, a Job. Training of Excellence”, featuring 25 talented youngsters from all over Italy, is taking place in Milan.
November 2023
Preparations are under way for the next edition of Homo Faber, which will take place Sept. 1-30, 2024, in Venice, at the Giorgio Cini Foundation.
November 2023
For the second year in a row, Fondazione Italia Patria della Bellezza, a partner of our Foundation, organized the Forum della Bellezza on November 21.
November 2023
On Saturday, November 18 and Sunday, November 19, at the Aula Magna of the University of Milan, Rotary International District 2041 celebrated the centenary of the founding of the first Rotary in Italy in 1923.
October 2023
Great success for the seventh edition of ApritiModaHeld on 21 and 22 September, this nationwide event once again proved to be a discovery for the excellence of Italian fashion.
October 2023
"Ara Starck at Made in Cloister", open to the public until 20 January 2024, is the first exhibition of the Parisian artist and storyteller Ara Starck in Naples, at the 16th-century cloister of the Church of Santa Caterina a Formiello where the Made in Cloister Foundation, an important centre for contemporary art, crafts and design in the heart of the Neapolitan city, is located.
Interviews
Enza Fasano's workshop is the true spearhead of Grottaglie ceramic art. The master in fact grew up among terracottas, and having practiced this art all her life has allowed her to develop a refined and recognizable taste. Today, in her historic atelier, she creates artefacts inspired by local tradition, but also reinvented with originality and enriched by shapes and chromatic plays; pieces that know how to surprise, the result of years in the workshop, family school and improvement, and suitable to satisfy a cosmopolitan and demanding clientele. The large showroom presents hundreds of objects of great beauty: from the typical Apulian tradition to the more functional elements for the table and for the home. In 2020, Enza Fasano gained the title “MAM – Master of Art and Craft”, bestowed by the Cologni Foundation.
Friul Mosaic is a family-run craft company of artistic mosaics, founded by William Bertoia in 1987. The atelier draws on an important tradition, with an eye towards contemporary design: starting from the concept, for which innovative motifs and original compositions are sought, each mosaic is made by hand, tile after tile, respecting the traditional techniques. Wall mosaic decorations, floor coverings, artistic and architectural solutions are all rigorously made to measure, with mastery, rigor and accuracy, without forgetting creativity and innovation. In fact, alongside classic motifs, original and modern textures are proposed, inspired by nature, works of art and myth, but also by modern mosaic as an interior design element. In 2020, William Bertoia gained the “MAM – Master of Art and Crafts” title, bestowed by the Cologni Foundation.
PictaLab is an interior decoration workshop created in Milan over fifteen years. It was founded in 2007 by Orsola Clerici, in collaboration with Chiara Troglio. In this elegant atelier, hand-painted wallpaper and wall decorations are created, with many different techniques: from fresco to trompe l'oeil, from coating to lacquering. Here, skilled craftspeople masterfully carry out each project, which always arises from a direct confrontation with the clients to understand their needs and expectations, and take care of the execution, rigorously made-to-measure. Every creation always takes into account the architectural space and the context in which the idea is shaped, to offer creative and personalized solutions. In addition to wall decorations, the workshop also offers a customization service for furniture and interior design objects. Orsola Clerici, co-owner and co-founder of the studio, obtained in 2020 the title "MAM – Maestro d’Arte e Mestiere" by Cologni Foundation for the Métiers d’Art.
The atelier Ornella Bijoux was founded in Milan in 1944 by Piera Barni. A historic business with an incredible story, bridged into present days thanks to the talent and determination of Simona Scala, the third generation at the helm of the business. They create jewels with a vintage flavor, ofetn inspired by Art Nouveau, but also with a more contemporary taste, made up of original compositions of metals and Venetian stones, hand-painted ceramics and crystals, pearls and shells, as well as enamels, ropes, leather and feathers, mixed with freedom, harmony and originality. An all-female enterprise, where know-how and craftsmanship have been handed down from mother to daughter for almost 80 years now.
Maurizio Betti is a master craftsman, owner of “La Bottega di Betti” in Santarcangelo di Romagna (Rimini). He inherited the interest in woodworking from his father Pasquale, who worked as a restorer in the Seventies.
Today he works with his partner Loredana Cangini, a professional decorator, and with his son Jonathan, to whom he taught the secrets of the craft: together they create, in their carpentry and restoration workshop, lacquered and finely decorated furniture, and they restore period furnishings.
But their greatest masterpieces are garden furnishings, and in particular the spectacular and colorful aviaries, nests and bird feeders: spectacular one-of-a-kind pieces, entirely handmade.
He participated in Homo Faber 2022 in Venice, with his "Lo Studiolo Ornitologico", diplayed in “Next of Europe” room. In the same year he was awarded with the title of “MAM - Maestro d'Arte e Mestiere”, by Fondazione Cologni.
Laura Inghirami, journalist and advisor specialized in the jewelry sector, and Founder of Donna Jewel, interviewed, for the Cologni Foundation, the Master artisans who have been awarded as “MAM – Master of Arts and Crafts”, in the category: Jewelry - Silversmithing – Goldsmithing.