I’d like to start my new blog telling you something about this three-days lasting event on watercolour art, held every two years in Fabriano, the famous Italian town well known for its paper production.
Everything revolves around a competition: fourteen jurors -masters of watercolour internationally renowned- have to nominate 4 artists each to take part to this award.
Prizes consists of artist residencies, solo exhibitions in the ‘Museo della Carta e della Filigrana’ in Fabriano and a handmade watercolour paper supply…. For the incoming 2024 edition the president of the jury is Stanislaw Zolads, from Sweden.
Beyond the contest, the Biennial International Prize Fabriano Watercolour is interesting because it can show which directions watercolour is taking in the world, today. A qualified jury composed by people from almost every part of the globe makes this event representative of the watercolour world beyond the fashion of the moment.
I started my journey as a juror of the Biennial Prize Fabriano in 1916 and since then I’ve been surprised by how the event developed, becoming a venue where you can go deep into the knowledge of the watercolour world, following different paths and enjoying originality and intuition, sometimes in unexpected technical expressions of this medium. (For this development I’m particularly grateful to Giorgio Pellegrini, one of the fathers and the main curator of this Prize).
The level of the 5 different exhibitions which take place in the Museo della Carta is really high and I invite you to consider spending two or three days to enjoy all the events organized around the competition of the Biennial Prize:
A) Friday 12th of July: all the artists involved in the Prize, jurors and participants visit the town -or some other interesting place in the neighborhood- painting, chattering and having lunch together; it’s a good opportunity to get acquainted with artists you maybe know only by seeing their watercolours in international exhibitions, or on the web.
B) Saturday 13th of July: Inauguration of five important exhibitions in the Museo della Carta e della Filigrana di Fabriano.
In one place you can visit: 1) the exhibition of works in competition for the 2024 Prize; 2) the show of the winner of last edition: in 2022 he was Joseph Zbukvic, one of the most renowned watercolour artists in the world; 3) Atanas Matsoureff’ exhibition, he won the Biennial Prize in 2018; 4) the show of works by the President of jury, Stanislaw Zoladz; 5) the exhibition of jurors’ works, who are renowned masters of watercolour.
For those who love watercolour it’s something not to be missed.
Also there will be guided visits at the Museo della Carta e della Filigrana, free demos from watercolour artists, convivial occasions and other events during the week end. If you love watercolour, I think you can really treat yourself with a three days trip in Fabriano, full of art, joy and interesting encounters.
Please note:
Exhibitions in the ‘Museo della Carta e della Filigrana’ will remain open until the end of September, 2024
