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4 Aug 2016

After 110 years from its foundation, a time during which it has become a hallmark of world architecture, Margraf has inaugurated the first edition of Marble Stories in Chiampo, near Vicenza. It is an international exhibition, which will focus every year on art, design and architecture.

The first edition, titled #M16, where M stands for man to underscore the craftsmanship and manual skills of excellence at Margraf, and 16 stands for this year, is curated by Giulio Delvè, an artist of international renown who works between the cities of Naples where he was born and Berlin. This year's theme is “A Soft Stone Born from the Sea.”

Vicenza stone, also called soft stone, formed from the collapse of blocks of limestone, from the collapse of the coral reef in the warm, calm, shallow waters of a tropical lagoon that covered the present-day geographical area and was located at latitudes near the equator. This natural material which, once skilfully quarried and processed by Margraf, is used to create unique and timeless works of architecture was born from the sea.

Margraf will host 5 international artists at its headquarters for a one-week artist-in-residence program during which they will be given block of 1 cubic metre of Vicenza stone to shape as they please, from 3:00 pm on Monday, August 29th, to noon, Sunday, September 4th. On that day an authoritative jury comprising leading artists and art collectors will judge the sculptures.

The works will then be exhibited from September 29th to October 1st in Verona at the Marmomacc International Trade Fair and sold for charity by the end of the year. The proceeds will be entirely donated to the Città della Speranza—City of Hope—Foundation, which has been engaged for years in the fight against paediatric haematological malignancies.

The Marble Stories project aims to create a meeting place and a platform for dialogue between the world of stone and the world of art, architecture and design, placing man and technology at the centre. Every year the event will take different forms and follow different paths, always relying on curators of international renown. On even years the theme will regard man and on odd years technological innovation, a field in which Margraf is a world leader.

Jury:

• Giulio Delvè (artist and curator)
• Walter Cassandro (antiquarian and art collector)
• Giorgia Lucchi Boccanera (gallery owner)
• Enrico Pasquale (Margraf sculptor and expert in marble working)