Eighteen photographic works by Paola De Pietri document not only the fascinating processes that create highly technical and visually attractive ceramic materials from earth and dust, but also the continual evolution of the technology, production and labour techniques of the ceramic companies in the tile district.
"Clays, kaolin, sands and feldspars and other raw materials are the basic ingredients of the ceramic “recipes”. Through operations that resemble alchemical procedures, the materials are transformed using skills and techniques that have been passed down through the centuries. The photographs in the exhibition are not intended as a comprehensive explanation of the new and innovative production processes of the ceramics industry, but as glimpses of the complexity and the origin of a process in which man participates primarily as the controller and supervisor." Paola De Pietri
Seccoumidofuoco is also a photographic catalogue: © 2016 Linea di Confine, Rubiera, Italy
The photographer
Paola De Pietri was born in Reggio Emilia, where she lives and works. She has been a photographer since the 1990s
She has performed numerous projects that are observations of the territory and reflections on the social dynamics. Her works have been presented at major personal and collective exhibitions in Italy, Europe and China.
Acknowledgements
The Seccoumidofuoco museum section is a survey conducted in 2013 during research for the Labour Section project; the curators are Francesco Genitoni and Paola Gemelli
Seccoumidofuoco is the result of collaboration with Linea di Confine per la Fotografia Contemporanea of Rubiera and Confindustria Ceramica.
Thanks are due to: Casalgrande Padana S.p.A., Ceramiche Atlas Concorde S.p.A., Gruppo Atlas Concorde S.p.A.; Cotto d’Este, Panariagroup Industrie Ceramiche S.p.A.; Florim Ceramiche S.p.A.