Albissola Mare and Albisola Superiore, when art meets the Italian Riviera
The Albisole: this term refers to the two distinct
Municipalities of Albissola Mare and Albisola Superiore, as well as to the hamlets
of Ellera and Luceto in their first entroterra.
A stone’s throw from Savona, the area is known mainly for the manufacture of
ceramics - a tradition dating back to the 15th century and still
thriving in a myriad handicrafts’ ateliers. The years between the 1930’s and
the 1960’s represented a Golden Age of excellence, when the charismatic figure
of Tullio d'Albisola (Tullio Mazzotti) was the core of a group of artists of
international repute (the area was in fact known as a “Small Athens”). Lucio
Fontana, Agenore Fabbri, Asger Jorn, Emanuele Luzzati, Giuseppe Capogrossi,
Roberto Crippa and others started working with traditional kilns, experimenting
with local ceramic masters.
Evidence of this season of artistic fervour shows
in the stunning Passeggiata degli Artisti,
a long seaside promenade which features 25 mosaics (and numberless tiny tiles)
designed by famous artists who lived and worked in Albisola.
Past the bridge
over the Sansobbia stream (the border among the two Municipalities), the open-air
art gallery leads to Superiore and its more recent Passeggiata Montale, which houses artworks such as the famous Onda (i.e., wave), a ceramic bench,
s-shaped and decorated with tiles designed by Carlè, Caminati and Luzzati. Lucio
Fontana had a studio in the Pozzo Garitta district, an intact corner of the
historical centre of Marina. There, he used to meet his colleagues in trattorie and bars, such as the “Bar
Testa”. The historical quarter of Superiore, too, boasts trattorie where to
enjoy typical fare – do not miss farinata
bianca, the street food specialty of the Savonese area.
My English abstract of the article as published on LiguriaFood
Luisa Puppo
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