The kick-off meeting of the project Craft Lab – Residences on the way from products to the Adri – Ionian design, funded for 1 million euro by Interreg V-A Greece-Italy Programme 2014 – 2020, was held in Polignano a Mare on 19-20 June 2018 at the Pino Pascali Foundation.
Pino Pascali Foundation is the Lead Partner of the project, with two italian partners, C.N.A. National Confederation of Crafts and small and medium-sized enterprises Bari and Puglia Region – Department of economic development, education, training and employment, and two Greek partners, the Regional Union of the Municipalities of the Ionian Islands and the Chamber of Lefkada. Associated partner is the Municipal Gallery of Corfu.
Craft Lab project, funded within Priority Axis 1-Innovation and competitiveness aims to promote entrepreneurial spirit in the young and creation of start-up through the rediscovery of ancient professions and crafts in the fields of ceramics, mosaics and fabrics, giving value to the common artistic heritage and cultural identity of Puglia and Greece.
Young artists and designers, art professionals and “craft angels” will be the protagonists of “experience labs”, itinerant creativity workshops established in 6 residences between Puglia and the towns of the Ionian Islands in Greece, aimed at training of young start-uppers to learn how to combine traditional craftsmanship with technology and design, blending arts and crafts of the past with modern day innovations. The final aim is the establishment of means and instruments to set up new start-ups and capitalisation of the regional policies in the craftsmanship sector and creative industry.