Organised by the City of Padua – Local Government Culture Department – this exhibition traces Daniela and Marzia Banci’s nearly 40 years of luxury jewellery-making. The two sisters first trained at the art institute Apolloni in Fano, and later graduated from the University Institute of Architecture in Venice.
Their training shines through their jewels whose craftsmanship is not an end to to itself, but rather a tool to mould their thoughts, ranging from philosophy to poetry. In ‘a rhythmic play of visible and invisible’ – as professor Umberto Curi acknowledges – ‘the quality of their designs, their formal effectiveness, the precious materials used as metaphors of divine revelation’ as identified by the exhibition curator Ornella Casazza, become, according to Cristina Acidini, ‘elements that weld together sky and earth, and in particular the macrocosm of nature and the microcosm of man’. Ambitious objectives the two goldsmiths have pursued for years with ‘ courage and their ability to produce a synthesis’ (Vittorio Spigai).
Professionals and illustrious representatives of the humanities and science fields have contributed to the exhibition catalogue, thus revealing the cultural breadth of Marzia’s and Daniela’s work. Their jewellery lends itself to many interpretations, and precious contributions come from Davide Banzato, the Museums and Libraries director of the City of Padua; Ornella Casazza, the former director of the Museo Tesoro dei Granduchi at Palazzo Pitti (Florence); Cristina Acidini, the president of the Drawing Art Academy of Florence; Gianpaolo Scarante, ambassador and professor at the university of Padua; Umberto Curi, emeritus professor of history of philosophy at the university of Padua; Vittorio Spigai, a former professor of architectural composition at the department of architecture at the university of Venice (IUAV) and Maria Anna Di Pede, an art historian.
To distinguish the different personalities of the two goldsmiths, the showcases dedicated to the artists’ historic collections Relative Clearness (1997), Geodedication (2000), Entelechia-Ruah (2003) and Birth(2005) are laid out to emphasise their individual styles. Central to the exhibition is the area dedicated to ‘Galileo and the Assayer’, which inspired the artists’ latest collection The Sky for a Star.
To complement the exhibition, a series of talks offers unmissable opportunities to gain inside knowledge of the Banci jewellery and the artists’ distinctive interpretation of the relationship between goldsmithing tradition and modernity.
Jewellery Exhibition – Daniela and Marzia Banci: Goldsmiths. Tradition in Modernity
Palazzo Zuckermann, Padua
Inauguration – 23 February at 18.00
Exhibition Duration 23 February – 8 April
Talks Programme:
Sunday 11 March at 11.00. Speaker: Ornella Casazza
Sunday 18 March at 11.00. Speakers: Umberto Curi and Vittorio Spigai
Sunday 8 April. Speaker: Andrea Ferrato
