It is about 2 years since the L’arte di seta was started with a mission to revive and strengthen connections to the heritage of past generations while promoting creativity. OH! The Little Guide gives an insight into where we are at the moment. It is a celebration of the steps we made and a starting point for the next projects.
The first guest of the Side by Side with Silk conversation was Anja Strojin Stampar Phd, attorney at law, lecturer, leader and linguist. Anja previously studied law, business and languages, worked as a manager in financial industry, and today she is an attorney at law in Ljubljana and a lecturer in higher education. Anja describes herself as an explorer, a lover of nature and aesthetics. In personal and professional life she draws connections between law, economics, language, art, creativity, healthy lifestyle and social responsibility.
“Ficko’s work brings the sense of miraculous back to us … his paintings appeal not only to the spectator’s basic senses, but also to the elusive intuitive mind. Behind the everyday realities passages open to magical worlds, full of unusual creatures and presences. It unveils parts of the same world we look at, without seeing beyond the bubble of reality into the magical core of life.”
Sometime around Candlemass, a spark flickers deep in the soil. Slowly a fire ignites and announces that the circle of eternal return is beginning to revolve again, and new life is emerging. Flowers have a special meaning in March. A March gift of flowers carries a message, memories, reminders. Instead of whom do these flowers bloom?
Como, the city of silk
A city of elegance, flowing out of the beauty of the lake and surrounding mountains with their stunning colours and light. When you make your way from the lakefront towards the city centre, you are immersed in stately houses with countless stories from the long and rich history.
Silk Museum of Como
A walk through the museum is a journey through the over 500-year-old history of silk production in Italy, from its very beginnings when the Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza ordered mulberry trees to be planted in Como. It is incredible to see how many inventions were necessary for silk to be able to thrive in all its beauty and extravagance.
Certain fashion accessories have been around since early mankind, say for instance, a simple, rectangular piece of fabric: a scarf, an accessory deserving of the highest praise. Despite what the biblical scenes of the Garden of Eden may portray, a fig leaf is unlikely to be the oldest piece of covering, or clothing, of our ancestors.
Since we presented the first collection of Galleria l’arte di seta in the year of an important jubilee of Lipica Stud Farm, the centre of Lipizzaners—Slovenia’s native horse breed—we decided to have this special horse be the bearer of the news of our launch of the Whispers of Slovenia collection.
The demanding circumstances only further encouraged us to realise our goal of offering artistically designed items on silk, as we firmly believe that experiencing something beautiful in hard times can help us connect with ourselves and our inner resources.
Observing the landscape is an important part of my day-to-day life. It inspires me with its boundlessness; the internal and external landscape are the cradle of this moment and are also an inspiration of the time to come.
The reflection of light on the silk satin gives the material a wonderful sheen, which, together with its exceptional softness and silkiness that can be felt upon touching it, evokes an exciting sense of luxurious elegance.