produced by: Menafueco Studio
incubated by: co/rizom
all images: Andrea D'Aversa photography
Garbaha
contemporary ceramics in Grottaglie
Garbaha is a research on the migration of forms that stems from the so-called "pumo" of Grottaglie, Apulia (southern Italy). By tracking its ancient origins and history, the collection brings it back to its original meaning of cosmic egg, seed of life.
The collection is a tribute to the material and immaterial heritage of the village of Grottaglie. The village is famous for its numerous ceramic workshops which to this day keep alive a centuries-old tradition of handicrafts.
Ceramic is a somehow mystical material. It embodies the four forces of Nature, it is a mixture of earth and water, air and fire. These objects are conceived as tools for the ritualization of daily life through a reinterpretation of an ancient symbol of life and wealth.
The project stems from in-depth iconographic research into the symbol of the pumo, analog symbol to the 'egg of the world'. This symbol can be found in the visual and material culture of peoples with different geographical and temporal locations.
The egg or seed, called Hiraṇyagarbha in Vedic philosophy, is the source of the creation of universe or the manifested cosmos. For this reason, it is often associated with the concepts of new beginnings and abundance. That's why still nowadays it is a tradition in Italy to gift an Apulean pumo (or its Sicilian counterpart, the pine cone) on the occasion of marriages and births.
