The Benefits of
Sisterhood for Seattle and Perugia
by Ian H. Caruana
 |
| Moretti Family |
We have a lot in common with our sister city of Perugia , Italy .
We are bound together in sisterhood with a common love for food, wine, music, culture
and art. This November we are lucky in Seattle
to celebrate all of the above. From the 15th to 20th, the
Italian Film Festival will be held at the SIFF Uptown Theater, and the “Taste
of Italy” at the Seattle Center Northwest Rooms is set for Nov. 17th. And the
event of a lifetime for our Sister City relationship with Perugia will take
place on Nov. 13 when we will receive the gift of the Chalice for Alviero
ceramics collection from the Moretti family and Commune di Perugia.
The foundations of Perugia
pre date the Roman Empire and our city just
has just over 160 years of history, still both of our cities are noteworthy centers
for art. We both have outstanding museums, architecture, and public statuary for
public viewing. We both host important music, cultural, food, and art festivals
and love living life. This is where we are similar and this is the common
ground we share.
While it is true how we are the same initiates our bond and
gives us a foundation, it is in how we are different that fascinates us and
keeps our relationship fresh and interesting. Our similarities are just a
starting point for a continuing friendship of sharing our differences.
Alviero
Moretti is known for the contributions he made in ceramics both in Italy
and worldwide. He is credited with saving the ceramic industry of Deruta in the
1950s by implementing old and new techniques to create ceramics with both
traditional and contemporary designs. In the 1970s, the
“Galleria Moretti”
was founded; the only contemporary art gallery in Italy that specifically showed
ceramic artworks that have been produced by well-respected and accomplished
artists in the
nearby workshop.
The
collection consists of pieces by 40 important and talented predominately
Umbrian artists. I was honored this past July to have seen the collection at
Deruta Antica located in the town of Deruta (in
the province of Perugia
and the state of Umbria , Italy ). The collection is titled “A
Chalice for Alviero” “(un Calice per
Alviero.”)
Because
of the generosity of the Moretti family and the Alviero Moretti Foundation,
there will be another place where one can see this significant collection of
ceramics. Seattle
will be the recipient of part of the Alviero Moretti collection.
A chalice is a cup generally
used in religious ceremonies and seems a fitting honor to such an important man
in the world of art. One of the strengths of the collection is the continuity
and diversity that takes the viewer on a ride of emotion with each
interpretation of the same concept. I, for one, am honored to receive this
important collection here in our city of Seattle .
The show has been on display in the city
hall of Perugia and
now will be presented by the Moretti family and Vice Mayor Nilo Arcudi of Perugia to Mayor Mike McGinn to the city of Seattle on November 13,
2012. The collection will be on display at city hall until it is installed at
its future permanent home.
.
I encourage all who love art and Italy to attend the presentation of
this collection on November 13th. If you are not able to attend the
opening, sponsored by the Comune di Perugia and SPSCA, do yourself a favor and
visit the collection when you can. I sincerely hope it inspires you.
For further inspiration, visit the home of the Moretti ceramic
factory and foundation at:
www.anticaderuta.com
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