Ancient craft

Quarta Caffè 2023 calendar refers to ancient crafts, part of our tradition and historical identity through the narrative of photographic images.

Globalization has helped us to forget our traditions; Quarta Caffè, according to its mission, wants to remind the value of the ancient crafts contained in our cultural heritage.

In the details of the photo shoots, expert hands transform stones, clay, papier-mâché, burla, linen threads and semolina dough into a unique artefact that gives life to our Apulian folk culture. To abandon all this would be to forget our origins.

It is the story of excellence indicated by atavistic symbols, such as the rampant rooster depicted on ceramic objects, a representative icon of the God Mercury, called upon to protect the family and ward off negativity. A tradition of craftsmanship is the durum wheat semolina appetizer from Tavoliere delle Puglie, with a hollow shape inspired by the stone roofs of Trulli. Finer processes, such as warping, the first operation on a loom, in which a skein is created from perfectly arranged threads on which the weft is woven. And yet the weaving of the containers that give life to the “artisanal traps” for fishing, made of rush fibers, a natural material with no impact on the marine ecosystem. To then proceed to the processing of Lecce stone, which spread thanks to the skill of the stonemasons, able to select, cut and model – already in the quarry – the limestone with decisive ax blows from the basic shape to the final product . To then finish with the ancient papier-mâché technique, created to decorate the baroque altarpieces of Lecce and lighten the burden of the statues of saints in procession.

We leave these testimonies of “the manual art of other times” to the reader, to remember them and spread them with us.