The success of Mosaico&Mosaici 2024: an expectation never disappointed
The thirtieth edition of Mosaico&Mosaici 2024 has ended, the summer exhibition of the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli, which again this year saw a success with the public. Data in hand, in the space of a month, precisely from 27 July to 25 August 2024, over six thousand visitors passed through the School.
A now consolidated appointment for the summer of Spilimbergo and Friuli Venezia Giulia, the Mosaico&Mosaici exhibition presents the best of what was conceived, designed and created during the training year spent by the students of the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli: an exhibition itinerary made above all of mosaics, from those in Roman style to contemporary ones, passing through the Byzantine and modern style. A true repertoire of mosaic art which through copies, interpretations, re-actualisations and original creations brings to life the formal and expressive history of mosaic over the centuries, which then corresponds and reflects the three-year training program for obtaining the professional qualification of Master Mosaicist.
At each edition Mosaico&Mosaici offers visitors a gallery of new and different mosaics, accompanied by photos, explanations and technical notes, because if the educational objectives are now consolidated, learning takes place in a laboratory manner and the projects that are developed and then carried out do not they are never the same. It is therefore in the creative and innovative ability of the teachers of the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli and in the passion and tenacity of the students that probably lies the secret of the success of the Mosaico&Mosaici exhibition. A loyal audience comes to admire the latest mosaics, which they add to their personal list of favorites among those already seen in past years and which they often find in the spaces of the School; others come there driven by the desire for discovery, because the exhibition, open every day, is one more reason to enter the School and get to know this century-old institution, so important for the art of mosaic. To faithful or simply curious, to experts or novices, the art of mosaic is offered here in its many declinations, from ancient models to revolutionary design proposals. The Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli is a unique place to understand the true meaning of the word “mosaic” and the Mosaico&Mosaici exhibition, as the title summarizes well, proposes its many nuances, its many implications, affirming the great expressive power of mosaic.
The data collected also describes a heterogeneous audience of visitors: individuals, couples, families, groups; the ages range, covering a wide range from nursery school children to senior citizens and there are no limits as the school is totally accessible. However, it is the origins that are surprising: certainly from the entire Friuli Venezia Giulia region, but there are numerous Italian cities mentioned, from north to south, including the islands. The number of visitors from foreign countries was large: neighboring Austria, Slovenia and Croatia, but also from Australia, Thailand, the United States, Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela, then from Europe, France, Germany , Switzerland, Belgium, Great Britain, Holland, Poland…
This is not a sterile list of places, but the confirmation of the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli as an internationally recognized center for mosaic, where every year around a hundred works are designed and created, where research is carried out, where it is taught and promoted. a thousand-year-old art that is kept alive through a lively look at the present and the tastes and needs of contemporary life. So on display there were the large surfaces inspired by Roman floors, but also the intertwining of mosaic tiles and leather goods, the decorative panels resulting from dialogue with other forms of art, the experiments in the field of furniture, the great works of impact and small works for intimate and family enjoyment. A rich and complex repertoire, capable of satisfying even the most demanding palates, which precisely because of its variety does not disappoint those who know how to appreciate compositional details, but not even those who are carried away by the first impression.
It is therefore nice to remember that if the Mosaico&Mosaici 2024 exhibition is over, the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli is still open and can be visited from Monday to Friday, from 8.00 to 11.30 and from 13.00 to 15.30; that many of the mosaics present in the exhibition now add to the School’s exhibition gallery and can be found in the corridors or laboratories where they will be an exhortation for the students in the upcoming training year; that there is a detailed and richly illustrated Catalogue of the exhibition, which can be purchased at the School, to be collected and added to the series of volumes describing the previous exhibitions.
The comments left by visitors are fundamental testimonies of the appreciation for the work carried out and of the amazement that the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli arouses in those who enter it for the first time: the visit is seen as an exciting experience, capable of opening the heart and the mind and, it should be noted, not with special, digital and stunning effects, but with direct contact with the mosaics, with the materials, with artisanal knowledge, with the results of a patient practice that has ancient origins, but knows how to find its rightful place in the present too.
Catalogue of the Mosaico&Mosaici 2024 exhibition, available for purchase at the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli or
by contacting the secretariat (info@scuolamosaicistifriuli.it).
September 3, 2024
