Nuorese Cultural District
Nuoro
Museo della Ceramica
Description
The Museo della Ceramica opened in the summer of 2023, adding itself to Nuoro’s rich cultural offering with a fascinating journey through twentieth-century Sardinian pottery.
Hosted in Casa Chironi, the former residence of the jurist and senator Giampietro Chironi (1855–1918), which looks out over Piazza Su Connottu, the museum’s collection extends across three floors and covers the origins and development of art pottery in Sardinia through in-depth monographic displays and thematic sections.
Starting from the origins, when production was still tied to the popular tradition of the figuli (potters), who made simple, elegant pitchers and everyday containers and cookware, the exhibit continues with the pioneers of Sardinian decorative arts, including Francesco Ciusa, Federico and Melkiorre Melis, Ciriaco Piras and Simone Lai. Sardinian master potters revisited the motifs used by traditional craftsmen, creating modern, Art Deco objects for the middle class in local communities and across Italy.
The exhibit includes a selection of works by artists who worked in ceramic as one expressive means among many, like Costantino Nivola, Maria Lai and Pinuccio Sciola, and others who worked exclusively in the medium, such as Salvatore Fancello, who is now recognised as one of the world’s greatest twentieth-century ceramicists.
The museum also tells the story of pottery and ISOLA, the Istituto Sardo Organizzazione Lavoro Artigiano (Sardinian Institute for the Organisation of Artisan Labour), which was founded in the 1950s by Eugenio Tavolara and Ubaldo Badas to modernise Sardinian crafts and support the island’s artisans. Gavino Tilocca, Giuseppe Silecchia, Angelo Sciannella, Emilia Palomba, Dolores Demurtas and Paola Dessy are some of the leading figures of this intense chapter for Sardinian culture.
The museum, managed by ISRE, the Istituto Superiore Regionale Etnografico (Sardinian Regional Institute of Ethnography), which also manages the Museo del Costume and the Casa Museo di Grazia Deledda, also hosts temporary exhibitions and organises events for adults and children throughout the year.
Contact
- Address:
- Piazza Su Connottu, 8, 08100 Nuoro NU, Italia