The exhibition “La Grande Opera Ceramica” opens to the public on 14 October at the Palacio de Abrantes, home of the Italian Cultural Institute in Madrid. Curated by Enzo Biffi Gentili, the site-specific exhibition features contemporary Italian ceramic artists and artisans. Through it, the Institute renews its commitment to showcasing Italy’s creative heritage and fostering dialogue between art, fine craftsmanship, innovation and production. Organised with the support of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of Italy’s Ministry of Culture, the exhibition will run until 14 November.
Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, stated: “The choice of Madrid to host this exhibition has particular significance. Italy and Spain share a long history and a deep friendship, kindled by strong economic and cultural ties. […] La Grande Opera Ceramica thus presents the image of a country that knows how to turn its history into innovation and its creativity into growth.”
The Ambassador of Italy to Spain, Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi, said: “Promoted by the Italian Cultural Institute in Madrid, La Grande Opera Ceramica provides a contemporary perspective on Italian ceramic art, in dialogue with the craft tradition celebrated at the Embassy during Made in Italy Day 2026 with an event devoted to ceramics from the Amalfi Coast.”
The Institute’s Director, Elena Fontanella, noted: “Terracotta is, by its very nature, a universal language that defies all borders. Drawing on this centuries-old cross-fertilisation, the exhibition is a necessary declaration of the disciplinary and spiritual independence of ceramic art – an invitation to rediscover the essence of an artistic expression that has been relegated to a marginal role for far too long.”
Curator Enzo Biffi Gentili said: “The Italian expression Grande Opera in the title, like Gran Obra in Spanish, derives from the Latin Magnum Opus, which is also a term associated with alchemy. The connection between ceramics and alchemy is clear: both are arts of fire, combining the four elements of Earth, Water, Fire and Air.”
Alongside the exhibition on the piano nobile, the Italian Cultural Institute in Madrid will host “Grand Tour: Archetipi della ceramica italiana” (Grand Tour: Archetypes of Italian Ceramics) in its Spazio Dante gallery on the same dates and during the same opening hours. Promoted by AiCC – the Italian Association of Ceramic Cities – and curated by Viola Emaldi, the exhibition explores the origins of Italian ceramics and the humble artifacts that helped shape its identity: jugs, pitchers and containers used to carry water and to store and prepare food. These objects tell the story of a material culture shaped by ingenuity, the transmission of knowledge and local identities.
