L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 4 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS standardized productions and characterized by a race to cheap- ness, the intrinsic beauty and value of something made by hand, steeped in history and quintessentially unique, was lost for a while. People wouldn't see the point of paying more and, more crucially, the younger gen- erations failed to recognize the allure in carrying on their fathers' own work: quite simply, they didn't want to become arti- giani. Working with their hands was considered unglamorous, being a lawyer or a teacher a better option for a successful future career: artigianato, pre- cious to the world, and to Italy in particular, because holder of centuries of history, tradition and art, and ultimately creator of culture, had been declassed to a second tier working activity. Curiously, this didn't mean the interest in Italy's own craft products diminished: Made in Italy remained an undisputed leader in many fields, equal in meaning to quality, beauty and worth. Thousands of words have been spent discussing the state of Italian artigianato. Some have pointed out that, because of the above mentioned lack of interest of younger generations in craftsmanship and the inabili- ty of many artigiani to keep up with modern technology and reinvent themselves as 21st cen- tury bus ines s men, artis anal activities may start to decline. A frightening consideration, cer- tainly steeped in reality: it's the newer generations who keep on top of novelties and technologi- cal advances , w ho have the forma mentis and are s avvy enough to understand the impor- tance of modern ways of com- munication and commerce. If they stubbornly keep deserting their family's bottega, it's almost impossible their fathers, members of an entirely different generation and little versed in the magic of the internet, e-com- merce and Instagram, manage to keep up with changing times. Yet, in spite of these issues, the existence of which would be wrong to deny, Italian artigiana- to goes strong. Strong because it remains very much the father, the stan- dard bearer of Italian excellence around the world and represents a huge chunk of Italian exports: according to the Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico, almost 13% of Italy's exports come from craftsmanship products and this is without counting the food and wine industry. If we want more details, the 2014 research campaign Italia Caput Mundi can give them to us: handmade pottery, shoes, glasses and quali- ty salumi are among the most exported Italian products in the world. This means that, in spite of difficulties, Italian artigianato remains a real, consistent force for the country's economy. Strong because, disinterested younger generations have become less of a problem than they used to be: disillusioned by the stark reality of a job market where degrees and specializa- tions no longer are synonym of safe employment, many redis- covered the arts and crafts of their parents and grandparents, joining them in their ateliers or creating new imprese artigianali. Young minds, so, have been introducing artigianato to tech- nological innovation and mod- ern forms of communication, opening up their botteghe to the w orld, fully but s eamles s ly introducing modernity to a world made of traditional values and skills. This is essential to remember: Italian artigianato is history and Italian craftsmanship: culture, heritage and hope for the future art at its very core and, if mod- ern devices and innovation have been certainly supporting its smooth sailing into the 21st cen- tury, its essence should remain well rooted into tradition. Strong, because the market and consumers, in Italy and all over the w orld, unders tood there are some things machines jus t cannot do as w ell as a human hand. Man is creative, Man is ingenious and Man has hands that can make art: machines able to be all that, haven't been invented yet. This means that, especially in the next decade, professions where the "human factor" counts the mos t w ill be heavily s ought after. And mind, these are not simple words, there is data back- ing them all up. A 2015 study carried out by IRES, the Institute for Economic and S ocial Research, underlined how "in a country like Italy, famous for its high quality products, where unemployment among the young is incredibly heavy, but bakers, carpenters, tailors are diminish- ing in number, the w orld of crafts mans hip becomes an immense professional opportuni- ty." The s ame res earch als o underlined how crafts men's "know-how" remains "an essen- tial ingredient for the entire manufacturing sector," especial- ly today, when tradition and modernity – it cannot really be stressed enough – can merge to create a "formidable instrument of grow th and innovation." Even the European Commission, in a study investing the whole of the EU, emphasized how crafts- manship, if well supported by modern marketing and technolo- gies, is destined to become the real training force of European economy. Italian artigianato is the heart and hands of Italian economy and, in spite of some shakiness in the past years, it represent its future, too. We come from decades of homologation of tastes and lowering of quality s tandards ; w e come from decades when disposable and cheap equaled good. Those have been hard years for Italian craftsmanship, because arti- gianato's own values are the opposite: they speak of unique- ness, of excellence, of durabili- ty, even if it means spending a tad more to get it. But Italian artigianato is also the soul of Italy itself: rooted with pride in the territory, it car- ries on a plethora of s kills , words, gestures and memories that form the core of many areas' own social history and heritage. This is certainly typical of craftsmanship in every corner of the world, but particularly in Italy. This is why the importance of artigianato in our country runs deeper than economy and prestige. Artigianato speaks of what Italians are and Italy is made of: work, creativity, love for tradition, family. When read in this light, the idea of proposing the candida- ture of Italian artigianato to the UNESCO Heritage list is not as flamboyant as it may appear at first: in the end, nowhere else craftsmanship has become such a powerful synonym of culture, and nowhere else its role is so much part of the country's own history and soul. Continued from page 1 Violin making is a craft born and developed in Italy, which remains quintessentially Italian Glass work is another example of artigianato in which Italy excels

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