This year, I was lucky to realize two old dreams at once: the first is to see Italy, and the second is to go to the festival in Fabriano. As practice has shown, two dreams at one moment are an explosion of emotions. Today I want to write about my impressions after participating in the festival.
The main purpose of the trip was the festival, in 2023 it was held in the city of Bologna. This made the booking process much easier for me. The plan was simple to the point of impossibility - to come and enjoy a wonderful event in the world of watercolour, and at the same time feel what it is like to participate in an event that I am not the organizer of. 😊 It just so happened that over the past four years I have taken part in dozens of events, of which I attended eleven, and I organized ten of them. Therefore, relaxation and enjoyment were the main mission.
InArte Festival is a pioneer of international events in the world of watercolours of the 21st century. The world's largest festival has existed for more than 10 years, and all these years it has been an example to follow and always sets the "top bar". Hundreds of artists from all over the world come to Italy every year to communicate, share experiences, study, get acquainted with new materials and many other purposes. Every year, the organizers create a magnificent event, with a new rich and interesting program, every year, viewers can get acquainted with the work of hundreds of participants from all over the world, and participants can enjoy dozens of demonstrations of skill from modern watercolour gurus. Only one thing remains unchanged - the Fabriano Festival (InArte) will forever remain the first international event of this magnitude, which launched the development of entire communities, unions and associations in the watercolour world.
It was not my first participation this year, but for the first time I finally managed to come to the festival in person. The program was scheduled for three days. Very rich and I would say non-stop. I will not describe all the details and features of the festival, because it will be an extremely long process, I will write about what impressed me the most. So, the first and most important thing is the location. The exhibition was held in the very centre of the city, in the Palazzo opposite the Neptune Fountain in the heart of Bologna. More central is simply impossible. 😊 Exhibition hall - impressed from the first moment, Salaborsa is the main public library in Bologna, very good lighting, and in the centre of the hall there was a screen on which the works of all participants were broadcast in close-up all day long.
In the same building, one floor below, in a stunning hall with a glass atrium, demonstrations of craftsmanship from world-famous artists took place. The demo was broadcast on a big screen, and after the demo, you could come up and look at the work that turned out as a result. The only inconvenience is that in order to take a seat in the hall, you had to come in advance, there were more people who wanted to take a seat in the hall, much more.
The day before the opening of the exhibition there was a joint dinner-buffet in a no less stunning place, the hall was a 10-minute walk through the city centre. The hall itself is also a work of art - Palazzo Isolani - architectural masterpiece of the 15th century. We arrived a little earlier and managed to enjoy the beauty of the premises of the palazzo before it became very crowded and unbearably stuffy. In general, a wonderful buffet, everything was tasty, and in sufficient volume. In my opinion, the solemnity of the event was not enough, perhaps I was waiting for a welcoming speech from the organizers. But this is a very personal view, perhaps at this event it is accepted.
In the next two days, in the same place, a fair was held from material manufacturers from around the world. Some manufacturers had the opportunity to test materials, and this is a very important and necessary point in my opinion. For example, I did not buy paints from two world-famous manufacturers (although I planned to when I went to the festival); in the first case, due to the lack of the ability to test paints, and in the second, because dot cards were paid. 😊 The first time I encountered this, and I was a little surprised by this position of the manufacturers. But I did not pass by and became a happy owner of new paints from my favourite brands, and even tried new colours and purchased new small paint sets, and many more useful and necessary little things for working with watercolours.
New this year are the nightly performances with "Do you speak in watercolour?" by Carsten Wieland. I missed the first evening, but I managed to get to the second one, and the impressions were incredible. They are enough for a separate post. In short, this is a new modern look at the interaction and exchange of experience between artists, regardless of what language they speak - the main language of these performances is Watercolour.
