Los Maestros del Futuro - art and craftmanship in Seville

 

Seville is globally renowned for artistic craftmanship – the beautiful ceramics, including the 14^th-century azulejo tiles that you can see in the Alcazar, as well as examples in countless other palaces, churches, convents and other buildings around the city; the rich embroidery; the silversmithing; and the carved wood sculpture, among others.

Many of these traditional, historic crafts are linked closely to arte sacro, or religious art, the pieces created for sacred purposes, many of which are seen during Semana Santa (Holy Week), which happened a few weeks ago. The magnificent gold-embroidered mantas worn by Virgin Mary statues in the pasos, the statues themselves, and the hand-produced silver pieces than embellish the floats, and are carried by nazarenos in the processions.

 

In a new exhibition, you can see these extraordinary skills put into a new context – so that the pieces become independent works of art, without serving a higher cause. Maestros del Futuro, at Castillo San Jorge, the 12^th-century riverside castle in Triana which was the seat of the Inquisition, is the highly atmospheric setting for the show. It is organised by the Asociación Contemporánea de Artes y Oficios, with the support of Geneva-based organisation, the Michelango Foundation for Creativity and Craftmanship; a parallel show is being held in Florence, also home to highly skilled craftsmen.

The exhibition is stunningly displayed in this historic setting, in a large open space, with each piece set on an illuminated square glass panel, either on the wall, or suspended by thin wires from the ceiling. The suspended works seem to be luminescent and other-worldly, floating over the ancient brick remains of this building with such a dark history. The contrast between age-old crafts, contemporary technology, and the medieval castle, is striking.

As the exhibition’s curator, Jean Blanchaert says, “Craftsmanship represents a place, a territory as much as food and wine … An artisan’s skills are closely related to his environment. The immaterial dimension of cultural heritage provides a unique identity to an object produced in a given place. The material with which it is made becomes inimitable, expresses the heritage of the place, and magically, reveals its soul.” Indeed, Seville is embedded in the DNA of the makers, and of their chosen materials. These works are known as Contemporary Craft Masterpieces, in that they must be linked to today’s creative scene.

The artists featured, numbering 55, are from around Europe, from Italy to Norway, with nearly half of the craftsmen expert in traditional skills from Seville itself.

 

Paquili, or Francisco Carrera Iglesias - whom we interviewed at his workshop in the Alfalfa district of Seville - creates intricate embroidery designs for velvet robes that adorn religious images, and also elaborate sparkly embellishments for evening gowns. In his piece, Loseta, he has used real gold thread on purple velvet to create a baroque tile-type design with the ornate scrolls and curves seen on countless decorative details around the city. It is inspired by San Giorgio church in Venice.

 

Oleaje by Francisco Verdugo is one of the many pieces that makes you think. At first, the carved cedar wood could be a flower, but then you find out that it depicts a drop of water as it impacts the surface. Dynamic yet delicate, it shows off the skill and creativity of the master craftsman who usually spends hours dedicated to carving intricate pasos.

 

Another classic element of Semana Santa is the long, thick candles carried by the nazarenos in their processions, which are lit as dusk falls, and the dripping wax used by children to make pelotillas (balls). Virgins are illuminated by rows of narrow candles on their pasos at night. Inverting their usual craft, candle makers Cerería El Salvador, along with avant-garde fashion designer Leandro Cano, have adorned a red candle with carved flowers and hanging details. In Semana Santa, the  flowers wilt, and the candles burn down, but this piece, named Eternal, will last longer – not ephemeral, but eternal.

 

Other craftsmen who normally work in ecclesiastical settings include glassmaker Antonio Javier Salgado, who has created countless stained glass images for churches depicting bible scenes, as well as non-religious commissions, over his 40-year career. Antonio's offering for this show, Suspiro de Luz, is the complete opposite - all straight lines, in a Mondrian-type design of bold colours in rectangles divided by lead strips.

 

Among the other noteworthy pieces are Mercedes Vicente’s elegant white shell, Vortilina – another case of appearances can be deceptive: while it looks like ceramic, in fact the Galician artist has created it from textile and glue, intricately folded with mind-blowing care and attention.

 

If you ‘ve seen a poster advertising this exhibition around Seville city centre, then you will have gazed upon Anne Marie Laureys’ intriguing amorphous sculpture in shades of sea blue. “Earth, emotion and movement” are her cornerstones and her sculpture, Deseo Deshuesado_opus#3, shows “an aesthetic direction that seeks to abolish the boundaries between the outside and the inside”.  You can find you own meaning in this fluid, meditative piece, which is also strangely calming. Anne Marie belongs to BeCraft, the Belgian Walloon craft association, which has nine artists in the show.

 

One of the most impactful pieces is Victor Fotso Nyie’s C(h)oral, a ceramic pot with heads inside, representing the African slave trade. The Cameroonian-Italian artist is fascinated by the eternal ambivalence of the sea. Inside a red coral-like exterior, perhaps also representing blood, you see the inside wall is filled with blue faces - countless souls lost to the ocean, now reunited and singing together. It is disturbing, and thought-provoking.

 

 

A personal favourite is English artist Shannon Clegg, who moulds flowers into sculptures, in this case vases called Ramos. The stems keep their shape and colour, forming these beautiful, natural organic shapes.

 

The conceptual creation by Las Animas, Templum veritatis occultae, interlocking white grids, is "a sculptural piece with a totemic aura, mystery, and ceremonial character" that "works as a trigger for the levers of the collective unconscious". It is both forward-thinking and referencing past civilisations, and is made of packaging plywood coated with plaster.

I made two separate visits to this exhibition, as there is so much to take in. It is well worth visiting: the range in materials and styles is extremely wide - there are bound to be some pieces that absorb and fascinate more than others. The space is open, so you are not passing from room to room, and so there's a feeling of collectivity and connectivity between the pieces, as varied as they are.

Maestros del Futuro is at Castillo San Jorge till 31 May 2023.