Promoting culture to generate shared social value

Promoting culture is a central element of our commitment to social sustainability. Through projects, collaborations and initiatives that intertwine art, heritage, innovation and memory, we contribute to the cultural growth of the territories in which we operate. By supporting museums, exhibitions, display routes and enhancement initiatives, we foster long-lasting relationships with cultural institutions, artists and communities. A commitment rooted in the belief that culture is a shared asset, capable of building identity, generating opportunities and strengthening the bond between business and local communities.

Promoted by the Gallerie Estensi of Modena and the Ministry of Culture, the new exhibition layout of the “Orlando Apartment” in the Ducal Palace of Sassuolo—one of the most important Baroque residences in Northern Italy and part of the autonomous museum Gallerie Estensi—has involved five rooms in the southern wing of the Palace, previously only occasionally open to visitors. The new museum narrative illustrates the transformation of the Ducal Palace from a feudal castle into the summer and autumn residence of the Este court, through reconstructive models, films and projections that recreate the splendor of the palace and court rituals. A cultural heritage that continues to deeply shape the Sassuolo area, further enhanced thanks to the contribution of numerous local stakeholders—including public bodies, ceramic companies, artisans, historical archives and technical partners—who made it possible to restore a significant chapter of local history.

The exhibition “Small Tiles. 1889–1939. The First Fifty Years of the District”, hosted at the Museo della Ceramica in Fiorano at the Castle of Spezzano, retraces the first decades of the Modena-Reggio ceramic industry, from 1889 to the eve of the Second World War. Created with the Group’s scientific contribution and in collaboration with institutions and companies in the sector, it features around one hundred rare pieces from the area’s main historic manufacturers, recounting the evolution of early industrial production. A focus is dedicated to the pioneers of the district—including Filippo Marazzi, Guido Siliprandi and Antonino Dal Borgo—and their role in the development of local ceramics up to the post-war “boom.” For the first time, the exhibition also highlights the Medici Collection, over 7,000 artifacts donated to the Municipality of Fiorano, a unique testimony to the ceramic heritage of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the revolutionary fast single-firing patent, the Group presented the exhibition Gianni Berengo Gardin. Marazzi, the Fast Lines, curated by Alessandra Mauro, in the spaces of the Ducal Palace of Sassuolo, Gallerie Estensi. A series of shots, presented to the public for the first time, conveys the colorful and abstract rhythm of ceramic production. The exhibition celebrates the 1974 patent that forever transformed the tile production process, revolutionizing the entire sector. The 42 previously unseen shots taken by Berengo Gardin in 1977 portray the dynamism of the new production lines through a surprising use of color. In a work unique of its kind, the artist abandons his usual black-and-white photography to explore speed, shapes and vibrant tones, offering an abstract and unusual vision of the production process.

“Luigi Ghirri. The Marazzi Years 1975–1985” is a collection of almost entirely unpublished works. These are photographs and limited-edition prints, mostly never exhibited or published, resulting from the collaboration between Luigi Ghirri and the Group and preserved for decades in the archives of the Emilia-based company. Thanks to the company’s commitment and collaboration with the Luigi Ghirri Archive, this visual heritage became the focus of a major enhancement project structured around a dedicated volume, an in-depth website and an exhibition route launched at the Civic Museums of Reggio Emilia, with a cameo during Fotografia Europea 2021. The exhibition then found new life in the spaces of the Apartment of the Giants at the Ducal Palace of Sassuolo, part of the Gallerie Estensi, before concluding at the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris, where the dialogue between Ghirri’s work and the history of the Group’s ceramic innovation took on an international dimension.

On the occasion of the exhibition Metamorfuoco. Under the Light of Tintoretto, hosted at the Gallerie Estensi in Modena, we collaborated with the English artist Simon Starling to create an immersive installation. The work brought Tintoretto’s pictorial cycle into dialogue with woodcuts and contemporary works from the Gallerie Estensi archives, inviting the public to reflect on the effects of climate change. An integral part of the installation was the special porcelain stoneware floor, designed by Starling and produced by the Group, conceived as a “canvas” on which the artist traced natural elements in relation to the figures in the sixteenth-century painting. Around sixty decorations, each different, formed a unique mosaic defining a circular space designed to welcome visitors and guide them through an environment to be experienced, immersed in the light of Tintoretto’s masterpiece suspended above.

Curiosa Meravigliosa by Joan Fontcuberta represents the first permanent public artwork created as an architectural-scale ceramic composition, accessible to all and installed on the external wall of the Palazzo dei Musei in Reggio Emilia. Sixteen meters high and six meters wide, the work stems from citizen participation: over 12,000 images submitted by the public were transformed by the artist—thanks to collaboration with the Group—into 30 large photo-impressed ceramic slabs. Fontcuberta defines the project as a “document-monument”: a visual fresco of contemporary society and, at the same time, a testimony destined to recount the passing of generations as a true “collective memory capsule.” The work won the 10th Edition of the CULTURA + IMPRESA Award, in the Pro Bono VAAS Application category, one of the main national recognitions dedicated to projects that unite culture and the productive world. Selected from 132 applications, it stood out for the quality of the dialogue built between public institutions and private partners.

Promoted by the Ministry of Culture and organized by the Architects Foundation of Modena, IF Industria Festival Architettura involved the main production districts of the province with a broad program dedicated to urban development and territorial regeneration. Within the framework of the Festival—which brought over 55 initiatives including conferences and cultural activities to Modena and its province—the Crogiolo Marazzi hosted two public events, fostering dialogue between industry, institutions and the community. “An European point of view” offered a reflection on European experiences in the redevelopment of industrial districts, while “The Green Heart of the Ceramic District and the Marazzi Renaturation” explored the evolution of the district through contributions from scholars and professionals, including among the case studies the Marazzi Linear Park, an example of integration between productive landscape, ceramic culture and community.

The study and cataloguing project of the Antonio Medici Collection, owned by the Municipality of Fiorano Modenese, enhances a heritage of over 7,000 pieces documenting the origins of the Modena-Reggio ceramic district, now internationally recognized for innovation and quality. The scientific research, carried out by the Museo della Ceramica of Fiorano Modenese with the contribution of Marazzi Group, includes cataloguing, digitization and the development of new consultation tools, offering essential materials to safeguard the memory of the territory and understand the evolution of a sector that has helped define ceramic standards worldwide. Donated to the Municipality by Antonio Medici’s family, the collection found its first public enhancement in the exhibition Small Tiles. 1889–1939. The First Fifty Years of the District, dedicated to the origins of the Modena-Reggio ceramic industry.