REFLECTION ON THE ARTS, MAJOR AND MINOR

If we believe that a Gothic Arch is an artistic expression of Architecture, a Beethoven Symphony is of Music.

If the Mona Lisa is one of the greatest expressions of Pictorial Art, Michelangelo’s David is one of Sculpture. 

What about the Divine Comedy that brings Literary and Poetic Art to the highest levels orthe ballet Swan Lake that excites at every representation with the very virtuosic dance steps; finally who among us hasn’t cried at the end of the film E.T., a pillar of cinematographic art.

A long list of Arts, Noble Arts, which through their universal language make beauty, aesthetics and harmony accessible to all.

If I take a thread, weave it with competence and imagination, cross it with passion and art, turn it around tradition, don’t I finally create an masterpiece?

If through this Work I express a concept, represent a feeling, an episode, a story or simply convey a sense of beauty and harmony, isn’t this Art?

Does the use of tools other than a brush, a chisel, a piano or a camera make it a minor Art?

These are questions that those who work in the field of textile arts, considered “minor arts”, have been asking themselves for some time.

The almost total absence of schools or art institutes that offer the study and learning of these techniques testifies to the little consideration in which they are held by those who work in the artistic sector.

In the case of lace, for example, the only school present in Italy is the Scuola Merletti di Gorizia. It has been operating since 1946, the year in which the first lace course was activated by the Administration of Lace Courses, dependent on the Ministry of Education. Over the years the School has expanded and established teaching offices throughout the region, making the Art of Lace an integral discipline of school education.To date, the management of the School is in charge of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region through ERPAC (Regional Cultural Heritage Body) which guarantees the continuity and enhancement of the Art of Bobbin Lace. For over ten years, the School has provided an intensive training course for those who, coming from outside the region, want to learn the art of Gorizia lace in a professional way. The course includes one week of attendance a month, from October to June for six years. In addition to the practical teaching of lace from the fourth year, the study of Lace Design, History of Art and History of Costume and Fashion, History of Lace is foreseen. At the end of the course of study, a three-part exam is taken, Practical Lace, Design, History of Art and Lace to obtain the Diploma of Master or Lacemaker

The great passion I have for bobbin lace and art in general convinced me to attend this school which I will finish this year with final exams in June. It also helped me to understand even more the need for a more energetic and professional dissemination of this beautiful art which has its roots in the fifteenth century but which lends itself very well to the creation of contemporary artefacts.

At the same time I began to deepen my knowledge of Textile Art in general through Exhibitions, such as the one held at the Maxxi in 2019 “Tenendo per mano il sole”, Maria Lai. I was deeply impressed, especially by her sentence “I played with great seriousness, at one point they called my games art.”

For me, Art is joy, play, expression that takes the form of a technique that fascinates us, takes us totally, comes from within but for which we must have the utmost preparation and respect. Another beautiful encounter was Verona Tessile 2019. First of all, a grandiose event in a city that is a worthy setting for it.

Subsequently the discovery that with Quilting, trivially defined as “the art of sewing different fabrics and wadding together”, real works of art can be created. I have seen them exhibited in rooms alongside paintings and frescoes with which they held up very well in comparison.

The meeting with Joe Cunningham, Margareth Fabrizio and other Quilting artists, the knowledge of Maria Teresa Sansotta of the Ad Maiora Association and the discovery of the ArteMorbida Magazine have totally conquered me and made me a champion of the Textile Arts not as minor but admitted arts in the Olympus of major artistic disciplines.

PAINTING – SCULPTURE – ARCHITECTURE – LITERATURE – MUSIC – DANCE – CINEMA – THREAD AND FABRIC