The color and drama of life in Italian ceramics

The color and drama of life in Italian ceramics

By Mehru Jaffer

JAKARTA (JP): The Italian Cultural Institute will remain awash
with color as an exquisite collection of ceramics from different
parts of Italy decorate its off-white premises throughout June.

The contribution of Italy to this primeval art is difficult to
contest. It dates back to the days of the ancient Greeks and the
Romans, continuing to play an important role in modern times in
both the handicraft and the industrial sectors.

But it is curvaceous objects like plates, pitchers and urns
molded by a potter and later painted in styles handed down from
forgotten times that tell the greatest tale about naked flesh
locked in sensual embrace with clay.

At first it was just the potter and a handful of earth that in
simple shapes and basic colors like green and brown, outlined
abstract decorations, so typical of Roman and Gothic art
popularly found in numerous Italian cathedrals. According to
Dr.Carmen Ravenelli Guidotti, the entire 15th century is
distinguished by equally colorful but more sophisticated
decorations than previous centuries.

The influence at this time came from Byzantine art and Arab
culture that had seeped into Europe through Spain. This is when
the zaffiro or sapphire style became popular for its inky blue
intensity and stylized decoration with the oak leaf.

The albarello style followed next with Spanish-Arabian
patterns and designs inspired by those woven on oriental
textiles. The peacock, a motif used much in the Middle East
became a favorite in Italian ceramics as well. Meant as a
reminder of the rising sun, to the Christian world it came to
symbolize resurrection.

The pine cone flower pattern was introduced by Persian traders
and the pottery based on blue monochrome on a white background is
in imitation of porcelain, whose secret till the 18th century
only the Chinese knew.

Today ceramic centers abound in Italy, each region known for
its own peculiar innovations and styles. Faenza has always been a
privileged location for producing pottery. It is still known as
the earth of art, its significance reaching a peak during the
renaissance, and its artisans and artists retaining their
traditional relationship with the markets to this day.

On display are objects from Sicily where nearly everything is
said to be born, from the vulgar to the eccentric. It is also
said that the only constant of Sicilian culture is its ability to
assimilate disparate influences, without losing its own nature.

"My family name is probably derived from the word Moor, a name
for the North African Muslim who conquered Spain in the eighth
century," says Alberto Di Mauro, director of the Institute who
was born in Sicily, a proof of how the study of ceramics also
provides profound historic lessons.

Two distinct cultures are found in Sicily, one being the
dominant class whose ceramics show the influence of foreign
cultures, and that of the dominated class, whose ceramics have
mainly native characteristics.

The ceramics of Sciacca have always been inspired by the blue,
yellow, orange and green of the Mediterranean sea, where masters
of the art have passed on the craft to keep an age-old tradition
alive to this day. Pieces from this area are rich in color and
also in decorative motifs mostly evoking the sun, sea and the
island's fertile soil.

A tall vase-like shape is a boccioni that craftsmen can modify
on demand into a lamp. Albarelli is unique to Sicilian ceramics,
the smaller shapes used as holders and the larger ones as vases
and even umbrella holders. The plates are breathtakingly
beautiful and according to Sicilian culture meant mostly to
decorate the wall. Caltagirone is rich in clay and is the site
where the most ancient kiln is found. Here craftsmen have come a
long way since the beginning of the last millennium when the
conquering Muslims first fired clay here. The technique of
producing the quaint copper green is a secret known only to the
cannatari (ceramists) of Caltagirone.

The ceramists of Santo Stefano di Camastra are the most
eclectic, creating the most amazing shapes and the most unusual
color combinations to highlight designs. The place remains one of
the most fascinating centers of ceramics where the Sicilian
peasantry is seen to run amok with a riot of colors.

For their part Italians are attracted to Indonesian ceramics.
For the first time a meeting between members of the ceramics
community of both countries was organized here recently when a
delegation of 22 Italians discussed advanced ceramics technology
and innovation in conventional ceramics. At the end of the trip
Italian art historians were inspired to set up an archive in Bali
that will tell the story of ceramics here.

Italy's Research Institute for Ceramic Technology has invited
experts from the Indonesian Agency for the Assessment and
Application of Technology (BPPT) to visit ceramics centers like
Faenza in October, not just to admire each other's artistry but
also to look at future prospects of cooperation in the field of
sharing both technology and traditional ways of keeping alive the
colorful world of ceramics.

The exhibition remains open until the end of June at the
Italian Cultural Institute, Jl HOS Cokroaminoto 117, Menteng.
Further inquiries at tel. 3927531.