Building the future inspired by the past, to safeguard traditional arts and crafts
We encourage young people to rediscover the know-how of the past to offer new opportunities and enhance the territories and local communities
Traditions in the Future
The results
Apprenticeships
Countries involved
Historical Stores involved
Safeguarded local traditions
2021/2023
Concluded
In collaboration with:
Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte
Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship
THE CHALLENGE: to prevent the disappearance of craftspeople and crafts shops of excellence
Craftsmanship is a unique heritage resulting from centuries-old cultural, artistic, and productive tradition that represents the peculiar features and the identity of the territories to which it belongs.
Safeguarding and promoting this unique traditional knowledge, so that the extraordinary skills of the master craftspeople are not lost, is then fundamental: it represents a great resource in terms of both culture and economy.
There is the urgency of a generational change, not only for the survival of the know-how but also for the potential innovation that young people, experts in new technologies and means of communication, can bring.
THE GOAL: to enhance the unique identity of local communities
We consider the destinations of our cruises not only as places full of tourist attractions, but first and foremost as Communities made up of people, with their own traditions, culture, and economy. With this project, we encourage the generational turnover in the field of art-related businesses and high craftsmanship, training young women and men to preserve the uniqueness of local identities, fostering their evolution.
OUR PROJECT: to support education, innovation, and respect for tradition
We participated, in collaboration with the Fondazione Cologni and the Michelangelo Foundation, in the “One School, One Job” project to support them in their mission of safeguarding craftsmanship of excellence in some of the communities we reach with our ships in Italy, France, and Spain, and to train new generations of master craftspeople. We are committed to supporting 13 internships for qualified young people who come from the best schools of arts and crafts. The list of professions, industries and materials involved is rich and varied, including restoration of fabrics, stuccos and plasters, costumes for shows, pebble mosaic, puppet and crèche art, goldsmithing, Murano glass and crystals, cabinet making, carpentry, ceramic.
After the selection, young men and women attend a mini-master to learn the fundamentals of small business management, of communication, of design, and of applied arts; then they start their six-month-long apprenticeship in the workshop, under the guidance of a highly experienced master craftsman. The point is that craftsmanship, the know-how, and hand-made techniques are learned in the workshop but learning from a master is still fundamental.
We will bring these traditions aboard the Costa ships, becoming ambassadors of traditions and uniqueness of the local communities and disseminating them to our guests and the whole world.
The workshops and companies that host the young craftspeople are:
ITALY:
Associazione Culturale Agramante – Famiglia Argento (Sicilian puppets – Palermo), Berengo (art glass factory – Murano, VE), Gabriele Gelatti (pebble mosaics – Liguria), Gioielleria Carta (filigree goldsmith – Cagliari), Museo Storico e Parco del Castello di Miramare (restoration of fabrics – Trieste), Tirelli Costumi (costumes for theatre – Rome), Ulderico Pinfildi (chrèche art – Naples)
FRANCE:
Chantier Naval Borg (shipwright – Marseille)
SPAIN::
Arturo Mora (ceramics – Valencia), Jordi Ribas Ros (cabinet maker – Mallorca), Nicolau Baucells (art restoration – Ibiza), 40Plumas (crystal factory – Barcelona), Santa Conserva – (Restoration of sacred ancient textiles – Malaga)
