15th Biennial 2021

15^th INTERNATIONAL LACE BIENNIAL

Cantù, 16^th – 24^th October 2021

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LACE FROM THE CANTU’ AREA

Villa Calvi, via Roma 8


This section is dedicated to the Art of lace, offering visitors, scholars and enthusiasts a well-documented guide to the history of Cantù bobbin lace and its production from the 1600s to our day. This is a journey through fashion, style, faithfulness to tradition and the courage of innovation, a stimulus to knowledge and conservation of a local handicraft.

PHOTO: Fifth Biennial, October 2001, Cantù, Exhibition pavilion, via Manzoni.

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LACE AND DESIGN 2021

Cortile delle Ortensie, via Matteotti 33


The heart of the Biennial will be, in this splendid exhibition space Cortile delle Ortensie (Hydrangea Courtyard) in via Matteotti, the sixth event in the series “Lace and Design”, which will display the whole collection, from its origins to works from 2021.
The project involves important, internationally famous artists in the creation of unique lace pieces as works of art. The idea of the creative designer and the skill of the lacemakers gives rise to unique pieces of extremely high quality.

We are pleased to mention all the Designers who have so far taken part: Andrea Branzi, Michele De Lucchi, Terry Dwan, Martino Gamper, Anna Gili, Ugo La Pietra, Lombardini22, Alessandro Mendini, Angela Missoni, Luca Scacchetti, Thessy Shoenholzer Nichols, Patricia Urquiola and Nanda Vigo.

The fact that so many prestigious figures of international design have joined the initiative is a source of pride for the Committee and for all the lacemakers who have collaborated in carrying out these works, with the continuous, slow and patient work from which lace is born.

PIcture: "Duomo" Design, Lombardini 22

Lace and Design 2021

Michele De Lucchi - La mia casetta

Elena Salmistraro - Elisabeth

Nanni Strada - Pizzo pazzo

Lace and Design 2019

Michele De Lucchi 
His professional work has always gone hand in hand with a personal exploration of architecture, design, technology, and craftsmanship. The selections of his products are exhibited in the most important design museums in Europe, the United States and Japan.

Terry Dwan
Terry founded Dwan Studio in 1991, dedicated mainly to architecture and interior design. She has worked intensively in Switzerland, Japan, Germany and Italy, winning numerous international prizes and competitions. Dwan continues to work both in the field of architecture and design, and some of her works are exhibited in the permanent collection of the Design Museum at the Triennale in Milan.

Martino Gamper
Working between art and design, Martino Gamper engages in various projects from exhibition design to interior design, single orders and serial product design for the vanguard of the international furnishing sector: Gamper presented his works and his projects in numerous international exhibitions.

Ugo La Pietra
Ugo La Pietra is to be counted among the greatest contemporary Italian architects, designers and artists. A multifaceted personality, active since the ‘50s, he has ranged through various currents, without ever allowing himself to be labeled, to the point of calling himself a "researcher in the visual arts". The central point of his research, conducted through the most disparate methods and fields, is the relationship between the individual and the environment.

Lombardini22
With the commitment and passion of the Architect Matteo Noto and the engineer Viola Cambiè, Lombardini22 designed "Cathedral" project for a lace inspired by the infinite knot of Leonardo da Vinci, for the 500th anniversary of the death of the Tuscan genius. The development of the idea makes use of the most innovative design techniques applied to digital, as well as the prototyping of the work with 3D printing. The bobbin lace will be placed at the splendid crown of the roof.

Alessandro Mendini 
Alessandro Mendini is one of the greatest contemporary Italian architects, designers and artists. His contribution to the renewal of Italian design since the late 1970s was remarkable. From 1989, when the Atelier Mendini opened in Milan, he worked with his brother Francesco, also an architect. Parallel to the activity of the designer, which led him to collaborate with important companies, he also devoted himself to publishing, becoming director of the Domus magazine.

Nanda Vigo
Nanda Vigo lives and works between Milan and East Africa. She shows interest in art from an early age and in 1959 he opened his own studio in Milan. From that moment the essential theme of her art becomes the conflict/harmony between light and space, which the artist uses in her work, even as an architect or designer.

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Three dimensional flowers in lace

Exhibition Pavilion Corte San Rocco, via Matteotti 39

This section will combine flowers, a marvellous source of inspiration, with the magic of lace to create three-dimensional works. Flowers, which gladden our existence, will play the leading role in a section of the next Biennial and we have no doubt that once again it will be possible to admire original and creative lace designs, perfectly executed.

 Three dimensional flowers in lace.pdf

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Storytelling in thread

Villa Calvi, via Roma 8

This section is also aimed at all lacemakers: who are asked to devise new lace works inspired by the lovely fairy tales and nursery rhymes by Gianni Rodari, a much-loved writer who brings back to “grown-ups” the child hidden within each of us. In 2020, on the occasion of the centenary of the author’s birth, from April onwards. The Cantù Lace Promotion Committee proposed the idea of creating lace inspired by his rhymes and fairy-tales, publishing from newsletter n. 36 onwards designs and patterns.

 Storytelling in thread.pdf

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Microcosm 2021
Lace and Nature Conservation

Villa Calvi, via Roma 8

For the 15th Lace Biennial the organising Committee has launched the creation of lace works inspired by “Nature Conservation” on the part of Lace Schools and Associations, both national and international.
This section will exhibit the works by single lacemakers or lacemakers who have collaborated on a collective work in their Lace Associations or Schools.

Regulations for participation
• Lace works can be by single lacemakers or created as collective work by groups, schools, associations etc.
• The lace may be of various shapes, within the size limits of between 10 and 18 cm. (e.g. rectangular, round, square, etc.). but must be of high quality (in the refinement of stitches used, fineness of thread, originality of the design).
• Thread may be both of traditional type as regards fineness and colour: white, off-white, coloured thread, cotton, linen or silk thread, or in any case suited to the creation of the lace, without excluding metallic or innovative types.
• • Entries must consist of the following elements: title, brief description of the creative idea which led to its creation, pattern and lace artefact.

The lace must be sent or delivered by 15th June. Some lace works will be chosen and published in the catalogue of the 15th International Lace Biennial.

 Download Microcosm Form 2021


ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION AND CLIMATE, cm 10x10 – Design and Lacemaker: Emmanuela Ferrari, Bobbin thread in copper, bottle and plastic bags

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e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. subject INFO MICROCOSM 2021

Contemporary production by Schools, Associations and Amateur groups

Villa Calvi, via Roma, 8 - Cantù

It is surprising to see how many lace schools have sprung up over the last few years! All over the place, in the most diverse places, with pupils of all ages and backgrounds, with many different stories behind them. What is the secret? One desire: to make lace. As a hobby, for the pleasure of creating something with one’s own hands, for the fascination of beauty and for the chance to meet other women, share the challenge to improve and discuss around a common passion: lace.
As for each biennial, within Villa Calvi there will be a section dedicated to the work created over the last two years (2020-2021) by the skilled hands of the lacemakers who attend amateur courses.

To participate each School or Association must fill in the form, easily downloadable below and send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. attaching a photo and an A4 photocopy, (possibly partial) of the lace..

 Download the description form for the lace to be exhibited



ZIG-ZAG, diameter cm 10 – Lacemaker: Rosalinda Discacciati, S. Stefano Ticino, Associazione culturale “Mirta e le amiche del tombolo”

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Creativity Show
22^th- 23^th- 24^th october

Corte San Rocco, via Matteotti 39 - Cantù

The Creativity Show, on the days 22nd-23rd-24th October from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm, will showcase creative hobbyists, artisans and traders, Italian and foreign, close to the world of lace.

Those taking part in the show, whose underlying theme is handicraft creativity, will come from various national and international backgrounds They will show their works or materials on their own stands or, on request, be able to book well-equipped areas within the exhibition space.

The public will be able to find a specialized offering of products linked to the creation of bobbin lace and embroidery: thread, equipment, patterns and anything else necessary for this work.

 Download the form for businesses

 Download the form for Schools, Associations and Hobbyists

For specific requests contact:
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AT THE THEATRE
22^th october

Lacemakers tell their story

Some lacemakers have told stories of life, childhood memories, emotions and feelings.
With the collaboration of actresses and actors from Cantù, these stories will be dramatized at the San Teodoro Theatre, supported by short films set in the characteristic and historical locations of the city of Cantù.

CONVEGNO
data

Tra sapere e saper fare - L’artigianato femminile

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