Aemilia Ars Exhibit in Bologna April 10 - May 15

Oh to be in Bologna in springtime... this springtime!

At the Museo Davia Bargellini, Strada Maggiore, 44 in Bologna there will be an Aemilia Ars exhibit called: Aemilia Ars: merletti di inchiostro per merletti di filo. [Aemilia Ars: ink laces for thread laces] It is an exhibition of antique designs from the Aemilia Ars workshop, purchased by the City of Bologna in 1937.

I've translated the description from the website link above:

The exhibition is 30 antique designs from the early 20th century drawn for the embroidery and lace section of the Aemilia Ars Society. 

Sketches of large tablecloths are exhibited alongside detailed drawings, designed by Alfonso Rubbiani, Alfredo Tartarini, Alberto Pasquinelli and other designers who prepared them in order to aid embroiderers and lacemakers to create with the needle the refined and much sought after textile products which were sold around the world.

Thanks to the efforts of the promoter of this commercial company, Lina Bianconcini Cavazza, at the end of the nineteenth century a new technique of needle lace was developed, today commonly called 'Aemilia Ars', suitable both for reproducing the drawings published in sixteenth and seventeenth century pattern books and to create works in line with the contemporary Art Nouveau taste; an essential step in the realization of the artefacts was the preparation of designs with specific characteristics which established artists performed by translating these cultural stimuli.

For the occasion of the exhibition Aemilia Ars: ink laces for thread laces, some events are dedicated also to modern 'Aemilia Ars lace' - at the Davia Bargellini Museum you can admire the lace and embroidery workshop's original designs which are usually kept in depositories to better ensure their conservation.
 
These valuable materials will be able to interact with some examples of decorative ironwork preserved in the first room of the museum, in particular the spectacular sign of the Sante Mingazzi workshop and the refined gate of the Matteucci of Faenza company; in fact, these craftsmen were themselves a part of the artistic craftsman redevelopment project sponsored by the Aemilia Ars Society, active from 1898 to 1903.

Other events in conjunction with the exhibition will be three presentations sponsored by the Italian book store Feltrinelli in Piazza Galvani: a volume published for FENDI about the ability of Italian handicrafts; the books dedicated to Aemilia Ars needle lace produced by the Association Il Punto Antico of San Giovanni in Persiceto and a free workshop on the making of Aemilia Ars needle lace by teachers from the Association Il Punto Antico. 

The event inauguration will be April 9th at 5pm at the Museo Davia Bargellini. 

If you are in Bologna for this event, do not miss the stunning collection of needle lace pieces at the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte Museum!!!