Il Palmerino Cultural Association is co-organiser of a hands-on workshop for art by women on paper. "Women who drew" is a special introductory course on restoration. Its aim is to raise awareness about Florence's growing archives on female heritage through the conservation of prints, drawings and photography.
Course leader Beatrice Cuniberti introduce participants to paper documents in need of repair
The 'Women who drew' workshop series is brainchild of Associazione Culturale Il Palmerino and its long-time partner Advancing Women Artists. The 2018 programme took place in Florence's Oltrarno district at the Atelier degli Artigianelli whose public mission is to recover traditional Florentine craftsmanship. Participants studied works belonging to the center's collection and other 'noble' collections in Florence like that of the Corsini princes (or princesses!)
A glimpse of an artwork awaiting restoration from a Florentine family archive
Open to eight art-loving participants from all 'walks of knowledge and expertise', the workshop was led by restorer and centre director Beatrice Cuniberti. AWA and Il Palmerino Cultural Association awarded two programme grants to students interested in learning paper making techniques. "Il Palmerino is a growing art salon where artists and intellectuals gather to produce and protect art," says the organisation's president Federica Parietti. "'Women who drew' is smallscale but extremely important; it spotlights what AWA has taught the whole of Tuscany—that restoration is the first step in reclaiming the history of women, locally and throughout the world."
The project's grantees help restore a drawing by Lea Colliva, ph Kirsten Hills, 2018
'Women who drew' took on the restoration of a twentieth-century drawing by Bolognese artist Lea Colliva, from the Bertocchi-Colliva Gallery and Archive in Monzuno (Bologna). After restoration the drawing was exhibited at Il Palmerino's exhibition 'Lea Colliva: An Artist on the Pathway of the Gods', before returning home, to Monzuno.
Lea Colliva's self portrait from the early 1920s, under restoration