Where art and craft meet: Joias, in the heart of Tortolì, the best artistic craftsmen of Sardinia
In the centre of Tortolì, the pearl of the Ogliastra region, there is a boutique that tells the story of Sardinia through handicrafts.
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Stepping through the doors of the Joias boutique, in the heart of Tortolì, is like entering a jewellery-museum: amidst the clean white walls, you are immersed in an atmosphere where the art on display tells its own story. Ceramics, textiles, accessories, design: a careful selection of products from the owners of the historic Tortolì shop, known and appreciated for its wide range of highly artistic handicrafts from all over Sardinia.
While all art is craft, not all craft is art: artistic craft includes all handmade works or products, unique pieces created by hand that also have great cultural value. Every work of artistic craftsmanship is indeed original, refined and of great aesthetic quality.
This boutique in Tortolì combines art and craft to give life to objects of real utility, but with a high creative and decorative value, working with the best local craftsmen to create Joias brand products.
Ceramic masters such as Valeria Tola, Rosaura Sanna, Massimo Boi, Achille Monni, Giuliana Collu and her pottery, Raku by Maria Cristina Di Martino, Terra by Luca Scassellati, Giovanni Deidda, Kefra, Cristina and Stefania Ariu. Designers of the calibre of Paulina Herrera Letelier, Stefano Asili, Mara Damiani, Stefania Spanu.
Textile craftsmen such as Su Trobasciu, Su Marmuri textile co-op, Daniela Ghiani, Maria Antonia Urru. Metalwork with AV Metal; jewellery with Dìuma by Vincenzo Dipierro, traditional weaves by Antonello Utzeri, Inveloveritas t-shirts and accessories, traditional leather Safir masks by Graziano Viale.
Cestini sardi
Recently, a Joias-branded creation, the ‘Homage to Maria Lai – Legarsi alla montagna’ carpet, won the prestigious Carpet Design Awards 2023 as Best Design Studio Artist Rugs at Domotex in Hanover, the most important international fair of handcrafted design products.
Bringing the coveted award to Sardinia was the carpet inspired by Maria Lai’s work ‘Legarsi alla montagna’, signed by Joias, designed by the artist Stefania Spanu and woven by the Su Marmuri textile co-op. ‘A fantastic execution of a traditional technique mixed with a very modern sense of style’, read the jury’s motivation. Joias has found a way to tell this incredible story of contemporary Sardinian art through a wonderful carpet, the result of a marriage between a local artist and the undisputed genius of Maria Lai.
‘Sardinia is the land that no Homer ever sang’, wrote the famous Sardinian archaeologist Paolo Bernardini some time ago, but what is the Sardinian craftsman if not a singer and interpreter of the past and present of his own land? The craftsmen and artists are our aedi, who do not use words for their work, but wool for carpets, ceramics for vases and sculptures, gold for the richest jewellery.
At Joias, the ‘poems’ of traditional craftsmen are carefully selected and shared with customers, with the aim of preserving their history and passing on their wealth: a careful selection, also available in the online shop, to discover in the most hidden and lively places of the island those craftsmen who, while respecting the tradition of art, manage to reinterpret it and make it contemporary with a touch of poetry.
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