A contemporary art painting

A woman views Mark Rothko's "Orange, Red"
photo credit: AFP/Getty Images

So far, I think of my revival journey for Cama as a path, in which I have gotten rid of the object, the ceramic pieces that were at the center of the workshop's ceramic production. This art manufacturing took place in Deruta, Italy, a community that has been highly separated by unfair competition, ignited by foreign resellers and distributors, looking for the best price and putting the existing workshops one against each other. 

Being the ceramic pieces at the center meant working hard to put as many pieces in production as possible and get the factory going. Our workshop and Deruta itself had no power over the target markets, where our ceramics were exported to. We were simply subcontractors of specialty shops, that lead the markets. No branding of a single workshop in Deruta, no time invested in creating a united production force in town. Only the satisfaction of excellent product quality. However, as we say in Umbrian: "Mangia il Bellino" (tr. eat the flattering) cannot be the starting point for investing over time. 

In this scenario and with no funds, back in 2009, I started my revival journey for Cama through this blog. I have ended up forgetting about the ceramic pieces themselves to create visions and abstractions. The biggest achievement on this journey is my essay about an opera singer from my region, which attests to my dedication to the territory and above all how much I have tried to establish contact with shop owners, artisans, and local communities with no good results. 

Therefore my essay witnesses above all the close link of our opera singers - pioneers of our Made in Italy on the turn of the 19th and 20th century - with the Italian Renaissance. That's exactly where I have started my journey from, by resuming the roots of our most glorious time in our country, where we have rewritten our common classical Latin and Greek origins Italian style: color meanings, lessons from important leaders among which Cosimo I de' Medici, copy contents and inspiration from the arts to keep going all come to me from Italian Renaissance topics. 

Presently, more awareness is coming this way to me from the non-profit organization located in Treviso, Italy and called "100mila Ripartenze" (tr. 100,000 Recoveries). I am learning about soft skills and talents, receiving inputs from a community of experts dedicated to helping companies and professionals, who have undergone failure and much worse bankruptcy, get back to life.  

In this picture, I now feel like floating within a contemporary art painting, with no objects and with the aim of framing something totally new to the arts & crafts industry, as it was in my original vision; however, lacking focus in the beginning. But starting is what matters and everything else little by little contributes to shaping what is at heart to us: just do it, as a starting trigger, may suffice. 

All things considered, I feel that I have wasted a lot of time all these past years, looking for cooperations on the territory, where -among other things- I have made several mistakes and "Brutta figura" (tr. making a poor showing). Indeed, I was desperate and when you are desperate you do silly things. Actually, what was missing from my vision was academic advanced training in marketing and business administration. In my mind, I got it right. That would have solved my puzzle quite well, by giving me the correct tools to create a new innovative way of doing business in the Italian artisan industry. 

Despite my age now, I am quite happy about my journey as it's never too late to give birth to something new for us and for those who have believed in us. As a matter of fact, the artificial bits of intelligence I am meeting online think I am a university student!  

Reading about the topic of university advanced research studies to create the new élite in Italy in the book "Aristocrazia 2.0" by Roger Abravanel, Milano, Solferino, 2021 (pp.339)

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