The “Mani Maestre” were presented at the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday 12 November. The meeting was opened by the Vice-President of the Chamber, Anna Ascani. In attendance were the creator and artisan from Gubbio, Patrizia Ramacci, and the Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Gubbio, Paola Salciarini. The press conference presenting the project was a moment of great symbolic significance, marking the institutional recognition of a path dedicated to preserving and promoting the excellence of Italian know-how. The event included a speech by Alessandra de Nitto, Editorial and Events Director of Fondazione Cologni.
The idea has its roots in the discovery of a series of plaster casts from the mid-18th century, on which the fingerprints of the artisans who created them are still visible. From that evocative starting point came the desire to create an Archive that fixes in the present the memory of hands – their lines, their experience, their warmth – to hand them down to the future as a tangible testament of an irreplaceable human and cultural heritage.
During the meeting, speeches were delivered by Alessandra de Nitto, representing Fondazione Cologni, and Rosa Maria Villani, former Director of the School of the Art of the Medal, who oversaw the inclusion of two new and prestigious “Mani Maestre” in the Archive: those of Master artisan Gaetano Aloisio, President of the World Federation of Master Tailors, and Master artisan Aldo Vitali, Camerlengo of the University and Noble College of Goldsmiths, Jewellers and Silversmiths of the Eternal City of Rome. Both were previously awarded the title of MAM – Maestro d’Arte e Mestiere.
As the creator of the project, Patrizia Ramacci, recalled: “This project was born as a tribute to the presence of artisans in our lives, to their role in representing our identity. Hands, through which they shape matter, are the gateway to entering their workshops, their hearts, to experiencing their world intimately.”
More information about the Archive of Master Hands: https://archiviomanimaestre.com/
