How did the tradition of rust printing begin?
It is said to have Roman origins and, although there is no definitive historical proof, it is a fascinating suggestion. We are in Gambettola, in the Rubicone valley, the land of Julius Caesar’s famous “alea iacta est”. It is documented that Vitruvius already spoke of a “martial dye”, that is, obtained from oxidised iron, and I like to imagine that Roman soldiers observed how rust from weapons left traces on linen tunics. From those stains, the idea may have arisen to transform rust into decoration, perhaps by centurions who put down their weapons to become farmers on lands gained in war, like the centurion Gambettola. It is a legend, of course, but it well conveys the spirit of Romagna: swords turned into ploughs and camp tents into banquet tablecloths.
The use of wooden blocks for printing, instead, is a technique widespread in many cultures. In Europe it was common until the nineteenth century, with important centres in Provence, the Como area, England and Austria. After industrialisation, however, this tradition survived almost only in Romagna, where it has remained until today, becoming an identity craft. During the Fascist period there was strong promotion of applied arts and traditional production, and my grandfather took part in fairs and craft events, such as the Triennale in Milan. Thanks to his skill in drawing and carving, he came into contact with designers and architects of the time, in the early years of what would become Italian design.
Does your large archive of patterns and blocks go back to your grandfather?
Our archive of wooden blocks reflects our history. It is an eclectic archive, built over more than a hundred years of work: it gathers traditional drawings, classical motifs, geometric patterns, Art Deco influences, modernist suggestions, and contemporary collaborations. We have never had a single stylistic direction. We have always been craftsmen, serving the requests and ideas of clients, designers and artists we worked with.
What has been your contribution to the workshop?
I have an artistic background, and my contribution continues the experimental openness already present in my grandfather’s work, but today there is inevitably also a new attention to communication and materials, and all these aspects are interconnected. For example, in the last twenty years we have also begun working on porcelain, on which it is much easier to perceive the handmade nature of the process: the mould leaves a clear three-dimensional imprint, making the relationship between matrix, gesture and surface more immediately legible.
At the core of our technique is block printing: carved wooden matrices are inked, manually pressed onto the material, and then beaten with a mallet. On porcelain or clay the gesture changes slightly, but the craftsmanship remains identical. Manual printing preserves characteristics that cannot be replicated industrially: subtle vibrations, irregular edges, variations in colour density.
The workshop also has an exclusive colour-fixing technique. How does it work?
In the 1990s we developed a steam-fixing system inspired by industrial textile technologies from the Como area. It is not patented, but a technique we use exclusively in manual printing. This allows us to work with eco-friendly dyes and achieve high resistance even on fabrics intended for everyday use.
Today we print cotton, linen and hemp, but also silk, wool and cashmere, always maintaining the same base technique. The strength of block printing lies precisely in its flexibility: we can print heavy fabrics such as terry cloth or velvet, but also very light silks. And by using small repeated modules, we can create very large surfaces without industrial systems.
What philosophy guides your collaborations?
We have always worked with designers and artists in a very spontaneous way, without a rigid structure. Each new design becomes part of the archive and continues to coexist with historical ones. We have also collaborated with major fashion houses such as Gucci, Balenciaga and Chanel, often behind the scenes, as is typical in craft subcontracting work.
At the same time, there are more continuous collaborations, such as with artist Mattia Vernocchi, with whom we developed the porcelain project, or with other artists like Francesco Bocchini and designers who have worked directly in our workshop.
In the workshop you also host collaborators and trainees, as is currently the case with a young craftswoman from the “Una Scuola, Un Lavoro” project by Fondazione Cologni. Aren’t you protective of your secrets?
The workshop is still a family-run reality. My father, who is 85, still comes to the workshop every day to print. My wife manages the commercial and administrative side, and the whole family participates in different ways in the life of the business.
In craftsmanship there has always been a certain secrecy around know-how, but I believe that in the present time we must do the opposite: collaborate, open up, teach. There are few of us left, and without transmission these skills risk disappearing. In our workshop there are no real “secrets”: anyone who visits can see everything. The difficult part is not looking, but learning how to do it. It takes years of experience to acquire the gesture, sensitivity and rhythm of manual work.
For this reason we strongly believe in training, internships and relationships with schools. We also believe in collective work among the remaining print workshops in Romagna. Today there are about ten of us, gathered in the Association of Hand Printers of Romagna, of which we are founding members. It is an important network, because alone it is difficult to preserve and pass on such a fragile heritage.
