Legado Artesano Castilla-la Mancha

It is an investigation into the poetry present in the signs of identity that our land preserves. It arises from the need to eliminate the borders between disciplines, to create, reformulate, professionalize and make visible, but above all to materialize with the aim of interpreting contemporaneity. The need to talk about plural identities, of excellence and mastery, of origins… It is a space of cultural torment where many things happen, where exciting characters, artists and lovers of purity meet. But above all it is a space for reflection. To reflect on the need to think with your hands to return to the essence of craftsmanship. Tomás Alía.

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE POETRY PRESENT IN THE SIGNS OF IDENTITY THAT OUR LAND HOLDS

HANDMADE PIECES

JUAN MANUEL MARCILLA

This “time capsule”, handcrafted in wicker by Juan Manuel Marcilla, houses all these iconic pieces of Castilla La Mancha's artisanal excellence.

SERGIO ROSA

The pieces of him are woven with a now extinct system, called “the rose leaf”. The warp is made of cotton and the weft is made of local wool. The manufacturing date dates back to the 1960s and the craftsman is Eustaquio Rosa, founder of the workshop and father of Sergio Rosa, who still works on the same looms. This weaving system features large raised designs. Due to the thickness and materials, these garments were usually used as bedspreads and rarely also as carpets.

LUIS MACHI

This technique, in its purest form, has remained virtually unchanged for more than eight centuries, since Venice developed and perfected it to the highest level in the 13th century. Since then, the technique, tools and procedure have remained virtually unchanged. All the pieces on display are made with internally formulated glass, with exquisite characteristics and the highest optical quality to meet the needs of master glassmakers.

AURELIO ARCE

Hand-turned pieces in wood from local trees: elm and walnut and treated wood. This collection presents a series of hand-turned bowls, which reveal the history of the tree from which the wood comes, with the elegant grains that make each of them a unique piece.

MARIA CAMISÓN

With these handmade porcelain pieces, the artist depicts different aspects of the plant: from its strong nature to its fragile stereotypy. The artist questions the androcentrism of Western medicine, particularly the over-medication and misdiagnoses that influence the perception and treatment of female bodies. This parallelism helps María Camisón to underline the need for a paradigm shift. With Adormidera, the artist breaks the historical superficial construction of the female gender to support a more holistic understanding of health and well-being.

FERNANDO GARCÉS

In her works, apparently opposite materials coexist in harmony, from white and pristine porcelains to rough refractory clays, enhancing even more, if possible, the qualities and merits of each of them. The pastes, sometimes naked, evoke the colors of the earth and show the potter's fingerprints as the only decoration. The metallic shine, the luster and the application of gold are a constant in her work. The clean profiles, reduced to their essence and stripped of all distractions, focus on sobriety, tranquility, rhythm, proportion and movement, to convey the essence of a thousand-year-old activity in a timeless way.

TALLER DE CERÁMICA SAN GINÉS & Andrea Santamarina

Since 2018 Andrea Santamarina has actively collaborated in the production of his pieces with the San Ginés Ceramics Laboratory, directed by Mónica García del Pino. This collection is inspired by the book Los seres imaginarios, by Jorge Luis Borges. It is a set of pieces that recover the tradition of Talavera ceramic painting, a craft activity carried out mainly by women. Animal motifs have been a constant feature in folk pottery representations. The ceramic collection is made up of reversible bodies without a specific gender, where the silhouettes appear on both sides of the pieces until they form a whole by turning them and placing them in different positions.

AITOR SARAIBA

The textile work of Aitor Saraiba turns 20 and to celebrate it in this exhibition we can see one of the first real textile works held in Manchester in 2003 and which summarizes what his work will be from then on. Art as catharsis, recovered and recycled fabric as a support, the wild spots and the sometimes almost cave paintings that populate them. A unique opportunity to see the beginnings and present of the textile work of this winner of the ICON Crafts Prize. Aitor Saraiba's ceramics, created in collaboration with

Centro Cerámico Talavera, have been a guarantee of design for more than a decade. Centro Cerámico Talavera A reference laboratory in the production of modern ceramics that has been operating since 1992, respecting the ceramic technique of Talavera de la Reina, painting by hand as the master ceramists of the 16th century did, combining tradition and innovation.

DEJUAN VAJILLAS & Leandro cano

Designer and craftsman come together to present this work of art. The evolution of Leandro Cano's work went hand in hand with his life. Since he was a child he has always been surrounded by artisans, artists, painters, sculptors... exploiting their talent to intervene with their disciplines in his collections. In each of his collections you can see the richness of Spanish craftsmanship. On this occasion we are presented with this large “Catalina” necklace, made entirely of terracotta, completely handmade in Francisco Agudo's laboratory.

FERNANDO ALCALDE

From the oriental tradition he also learned to look at the contemplation of nature as a source of inspiration for his work as a craftsman. “Nature helped me see colors,” he explains. “Sometimes you don't need to look for the extraordinary. We have many things at our fingertips, it's just a matter of knowing how to transform them." Fernando Alcalde's best-known works are inspired by the forms of the plant world. They are unique pieces in which design mixes with art, but which do not give up their functionality. “Usage puts you in contact with the piece through touch. I'm interested in making pleasant ceramics,” he says.