MY OWN HANDS: DESIGN AND SILVER WORKMANSHIP
Since 2009, the Bottega dell’Arte has offered a two-year course in Design Silversmith. Students learn to work metals and to enhance the natural talent of the hand with design. At the end of the course, they are able to masterfully craft jewelry and objects in silver and other metals. For the “A sketch for hope” project, Italian artists and designers donated 90 unique designs to the school, with which the students created an exclusive collection of designer jewels.
DESIGNING GIRLS’ FUTURE: DESIGN AND FABRIC PROCESSING
In 2018 a shorter course was launched only for girls: the most vulnerable part of the young Khmer population. An all-female team of designers designed bijoux and bags exclusively for the course. Paola Lenti Srl supports the project by providing the raw material: ropes and fabrics with wonderful colors, which in the hands of the girls become unique and innovative objects.
The most important result is that girls can access a decent and creative work, far from the risk of exploitation.
WOOD FOR CHANGE: DESIGN AND WOODWORKING
In 2019 a course was born to enhance the ancient tradition of woodworking, which has become less and less sustainable over time. The goal is to integrate the skills in metalworking with wood. Traditional processing systems are accompanied by a new sensitivity towards this material of primary importance for the global eco-environment, and the concept of recovering used materials is developed, to which give a new value through processing.