Mario Pinton International Award: I edition

For about 20 years now, the city of Padova has devoted particular attention to contemporary jewellery, both artistic and experimental, in order to pay homage to a very special Paduan tradition: that which arose in the 'P. Selvatico' Institute of Art in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly in its Jewellery Section. Founded by Mario Pinton, this section is now identified as the Padua School of Jewellery, to which the city devoted a large exhibition at the Palazzo della Ragione in 2008.

The presence in Padova of such well-known artists enhanced the name of our city on an international scale, to the point at which it has become a leading point of reference for research into contemporary jewellery, and a place where new ideas, styles and expressive choices can all be freely discussed and exchanged, as witnessed by the many exhibitions which have attracted many artists from all over the world to Padova.
Padova has recently been concentrating on the Trecento, as the 14th century is known in Italy. The Trecento was the century during which the da Carrara Seigneury attained its greatest heights, thanks partly to the highly talented artists who flocked to a city which had become internationally famous as a cultural centre. Giotto, Guariento, Petrarca, Giusto de' Menabuoi and many others are celebrated this year in the exhibition called Guariento alla Padova carrarese – The City of Padova at the Time of the da Carrara Seigneury.

By associating creativity with the spirit of that golden age, Padova also wishes to promote a new event linked to one of its best features: contemporary jewellery. It has thus established an international award, named in honour of Mario Pinton, master jeweller of the Padua School of Jewellery. The first edition will focus on the city of Padova as it was seven centuries ago, during what may be termed a 'golden age'. The 'Mario Pinton International Award – I edition. Castles, Miniatures, Astrology and Alchemy.

The City of Padova in the Time of the da Carrara Seigneury, in contemporary jewellery' will see the opening of the exhibition in the Oratorio di San Rocco (Oratory of St Roch) from May 13 to July 17 2011. The award-winning work is to remain in Padova, to enrich the collections of contemporary art in the city's museums.

The leading position of Padova in the field of recent studies in jewellery is also shown by the large number of competitors and the quality of their work. Sixty artists of international fame are taking part in this new exhibition-competititon, opening on May 13. They come from all over the world, their works are of a very high artistic level, and they have given their personal interpretations to the themes proposed by this first edition of the Award: from Castles to Miniatures, from the Stars to Alchemy, to the culture, city planning and architecture of the times.

The artists have taken their inspiration mainly from the 14th-century walls encircling the old town, the official buildings erected by powerful men, the coat of arms of the da Carrara family, and the chromatic play so often seen in the works of Giotto and Guariento, and have enriched them with explicit references and ideas for abstract suggestions, always interpreted in a contemporary key.

'After so many centuries', notes Andrea Colasio, Councillor for Cultural Affairs, 'this exhibition-competition plays the same role that Padova played in the Trecento, thanks to a seigneury blessed with enlightened and forward-thinking ideas. This role is now taken on by a modern city, culturally and technologically advanced, but with the same creative and operative genius which has found its highest artistic expression in the craft of working gold'.

Mirella Cisotto, curator of the exhibition, adds: 'With the Mario Pinton Award, Padova pays homage to its Jewellery School and marks further growth in its role in the field of international jewellery'.