The Fierucola’s Ceramic Fair in Piazza Santa Croce

Saturday 1 & Sunday 2: CERAMICS FAIR. Piazza Santa Croce. Open both days 10 am – 7 pm. Free admission. For more information, visit the website at http://www.artedellaceramica.net.

The International Ceramics Fair is returning, bringing colorful, handmade items to Florence.  Creations comprise plates, vases, mugs, teapots, design objects for the home and other decorative items.

There will be 90 contemporary ceramic artists from all over Europe in attendance. A stunning variety of materials will be on display, including but not limited to porcelain, shino, ash glazes, and wood-fired stoneware.

Some of the most innovative and surprising techniques are used by these artists to achieve effects like the illusion of ceramics becoming cloth, or even taking the shape of human bodies.

In addition to these works of art, the fair includes free educational workshops for children early Sunday morning at 10, then workshops for all ages starting at 3:30 on Saturday and Sunday. They will be able to work with clay and learn how to manipulate the raw material, learning to make, for example, a clay whistle. These workshops are open to all and are free to the public.

The event is an opportunity to exchange and compare works by contemporary ceramists of different nationalities. There will be artisans present from Slovenia, France, and Poland demonstrating their wares, among other countries. This festival has the added goal of bringing the general public closer to this ancient art.

Among the artists will be Terry Davies, a talented potter specializing in stoneware. He’s worked in Italy for over 30 years perfecting his techniques. Also in attendance will be Paola Staccioli, a Florentine ceramic sculptor who uses her considerable imagination and eye for color to work with luster glazes on her art. There are but two of the festival’s events.

The visitor will of course be able to find varied ceramic products for daily use, but sculptures, furniture, jewelry, and much, much more will also be on display and for sale.

The Sustainable Ceramic Daily (SCD) will be presented at 4 pm on Saturday. The SCD is a newspaper curated by the Arte della Ceramica Association, featuring an admirable circular economy project for the reduction of waste produced in ceramic laboratories. The newspaper will be published by LEF, Libreria Editrice Fiorentina. Along with this catalogue, there will be the presentation of the book “Contemporary Ceramics: A World of Colors” by Beatriz Irene Scotti on Sunday at 11 am.

At the square, there will of course be organic food products and wine for sale, typical of the Fierucola market.

For those who are interested in ceramics and pottery, there is a brochure you can pick up at the tourist office (including the one at Via Cavour 1/r) that shows all the addresses in Florence related to clay. The brochure is one giant map that comes with a list of museums with important ceramic works, pottery workshops, and schools that offer courses in ceramics. The map places all of these museums, workshops, and schools so they can be located easily. (Isabella Azzaro)