Among all the art at last month’s Venice Biennale sat a new project from Tod’s, celebrating the city’s long history of craftsmanship.
Alongside their support of the Italian national pavilion at the exhibition, Tod’s invited a number of Venetian craftsman to work around and with their iconic Gommino in their own disciplines; from glassblowing to millinery.
Those 11 artists, in full: Roberto Beltrami, glassblower; Romauld Mesdagh & Alessandra Di Gennaro, mosaic makers; Giuliana Longo, hat artisan; Gianpaolo Fallani, screen printer; Marino Menegazzo & Mario Berta Battiloro, goldbeaters; Matteo Seguso, Glass Engraver; Piero Dri E Saverio Pastor, who works with forcolas (traditional Venetian rowlocks); Lucio Bubacco, lamp worker; Sergio Boldrin, mask maker; Federica Marangoni, visual artist and sculptor; and Sebastiano Lundardelli, wood artisan.
There are plenty of ways to see the pairing as a fitting one. Tod’s history in Italian crafts runs nearly as long as the art exhibition itself – founded more than a hundred years ago. Chairman Diego Della Valle, explains that Venice’s place in history as a home of Italian craftsmanship made it a perfect place to commemorate what he sees as “fundamental vales of the Tod’s universe”. Post-biennale, Tod’s are commemorating the city with a new collection, including a deep blue and bright red Gommino, linking back to the city and its history of craft.
Every other year, artists descend on the city to add another link in the long chain of its artistic history; building on what’s come before in often inventive and unexpected ways. Tod’s parallel project this year aimed to extend that vision to a similar icon – a footwear staple older than many of the artists exhibiting. The best works know which parts of a long heritage to pay homage to and which ones to play around with.
