It isn't rare to find arts and crafts fairs all over the world, but it is definitely more unusual to find them in an architectural environment as it happens every May in Italy with the exhibition "Artigianato e Palazzo" (Craftsmanship and The Palace).
Organised by the non-profit organization Associazione Giardino Corsini, the event, curated by Giorgiana Corsini and Neri Torrigiani, focuses on one main aim, rediscovering hand-made techniques and the importance of craftsmanship, through the work of Italian and international artists.
The architectural twist in this story? The artisans exhibit their pieces in workshop-like settings inside the 16th century Corsini Garden in Florence.
Basket weavers, sculptors, milliners and many other artisans, recreate open air versions of their ateliers between the typical lemon-houses and the tree-lined avenues of the Italian garden, designed with geometric forms by Gherardo Silvani.
In this way visitors are invited to rediscover traditional techniques, learn more about different materials they may have forgotten about or admire the wonderful details of artisanal work in a natural environment.
The final aim of such a display is to prompt also the new generations to understand the value of handicraft and recontextualise it in our world ruled by digital technologies, or think about these traditional techniques in the wider economic context.
Despite the general global crisis and the fact that we can't live without technology, there is a renewed interest in hand-made products and a new passion from younger generations to rediscover certain skills.
The numbers of the previous editions of "Artigianato e Palazzo" confirm this interest: throughout the years over 674 master artisans represented 149 different trades, amongst them ceramics, glass grinding, silver chiselling, wood carving, tapestry restoration, gilding of frames and statues, milling and turning, straw-weaving, textile-weaving, stone-inlay, gold-smithing and millinery.
The four-day exhibition – that has been going for over two decades – includes every year a main bigger event dedicated to an Italian brand.
In the past it explored the heritage of Gucci, Bulgari, Roberto Capucci and the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella.
While the brand that will be homaged this year will be announced later on, we already know that the May edition of "Artigianato a Palazzo" will include a "Blogs & Crafts" competition.
Ten talented young (under 35) artisans will be invited to participate for free in the Fair and will be accompanied by bloggers who will showcase their work.
In this way visitors will get the chance to think about manufacturing processes and new means of communication and the way we use words and images to recount artisanal stories.
This year's event has also got a special link with the Richard-Ginori Museum.
Carlo Ginori, the funder of a Doccia-based ceramics factory in 1737, opened a gallery in the manufacturing plant to exhibit the most beautiful pieces from the production.
In 1864 the gallery was opened to the public; in 1896 Augusto Richard became the new owner and the company turned into the Società Ceramica Richard-Ginori.
The museum eventually moved from Doccia to Sesto Fiorentino and was located in an austere building (opened in 1965) in the rationalist style designed by Pier Niccolò Berardi and Fabio Rossi.
The Doccia Museum closed down in 2014 after Richard-Ginori 1735 S.p.a went bankrupt in 2012.
In 2013 Kering acquired the manufacturing company and the brand, now controlled by GRG (Gucci-Richard Ginori) S.r.l., but the Doccia Museum was not included in the Kering deal. The Italian government eventually bought the museum and its collection at the end of 2017.
The Doccia Museum collection, which is of inestimable value, features 8,000 works (dated between 1737 and 1990) in porcelain, ceramic, majolica and terracotta plus over 13,000 drawings, plates of engraved metal, cromolithographich stones, chalk moulds and a unique collection of wax sculptures. 
The entrance fee for the "Artigianato e Palazzo" fair and eventual further contributions of the visitors will help supporting the re-opening of the Museo della Manifattura di Doccia.
Besides, Florentine designer Duccio Maria Gambi will be producing 20 numbered works of art – conglomerates of objects from the Richard-Ginori collections reinvented with industrial concrete (see the five sketches in this post to get an idea of what the pieces will look like) – for the fair. The proceeds from their sale will also go in favour of the Museo di Doccia.
Looks like there will be a lot to admire for the visitors of this year's "Artigianato e Palazzo", but, above all, there will be a lot to learn and quite a few materials and techniques to be inspired by if you're a creative mind and, as a bonus, architecture (and landscape architecture) fans will be able to wander around the garden and admire the palazzo. Not bad for a crafts fair, isn't it?
The 24th edition of "Artigianato e Palazzo" will be on from May 17th through to May 20th 2018 (from 10.00am to 8.00pm) at the Giardino Corsini, Via della Scala 115, Florence, Italy.
All images in this post courtesy of "Artigianato e Palazzo"
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