VALENTINA PESCERELLI
I was born in Bologna in 1974 where I grew up and studied Economics and Marketing. I travelled in Italy and Europe for work and then moved to Milan where I live with my husband and our 3 children.
I worked for 20 years in marketing. The first company I worked for was Mars Inc, an excellent working place where I fell in love with marketing. Then I moved to Motorola Inc where I managed the partnership with Dolce&Gabbana to create the first fashion mobile phone and then moved to an Italian fashion company. I loved my job a lot.
In 2017 I decided to take what I built over the years and to put it into a project of my own. These kinds of decisions are often the result of a meeting that somehow changed our lives. I am no exception. I met a place. Puglia. A land from which I felt embraced, welcomed, adopted.
Puglia is the heart of my work: I offer the opportunity to experience a total immersion in this magical land.
Which role does craftsmanship play in your personal life?
Manual works and craftsmanship, in all its forms, have always fascinated me. Since I don’t have the talent of manual skill I channelled my creative vein into a "constant search for beauty". Objects that transmit emotions to me, artifacts that, in addition to being beautiful, have a story to tell, fascinate me.
When I created the project Le case di Valentina, I spontaneously enriched the houses with local handicrafts and gave my guests the opportunity to discover the real Puglia also through these objects that have a history and a soul.
Which crafts sector fascinates you the most?
Surely craftsmanship related to design and objects in general. I love to surround myself with artifacts with everyday usage. It often happens that these same products, originally born for certain purposes, are adapted to different needs and take new life: this is the case for example of Nasse, ancient fishing equipment hand made with rush by fishermen. It is easy to find them used as decorations, fruit baskets or as lampshades. This aspect of craftsmanship fascinates me and intrigues me more than any other.
Do you believe that craftsmanship has a future? What could it look like?
The concept of manual work has strongly changed: craftsmanship in the laboratory is not mere production, but requires ideation, design through inspiration and expertise, and finally execution. In an increasingly mechanized future, the figure of the craftsman will be even more fundamental, because competence, ingenuity and above all creativity will remain qualities that are difficult to replace by machines.
Tradition or innovation - what do you consider more important?
In my concept of craftsmanship, innovation and traditions coexist and merge to give life to objects that can be used in everyday life. To use objects whose history dates back to hundreds of years ago, just because you have imagined them in a new guise, for me it has an enormous value.
How important are networks and platforms like MEISTERSTRASSE today?
Platforms such as Meisterstrasse represent a twofold opportunity: for artisans to be known even far from their territory of origin, to tell their own story and to pass on the tradition of their works. For the consumer it is instead the opportunity to discover new fascinating stories, to know objects and be able to buy them even staying miles away.
Insider tips: Which producers (artisans, craftsmen, culinary producers, manufactories) recentlymade you happy as a customer?
Parisi 1876: Parisi family has created luminarie since 1876. Luminarie (from the Latin "lumen", which literally means "object that spreads light", but in a broader sense serves to indicate the feast of lights) are light decoration used in Puglia to decorate streets, monuments and palaces during Christian holidays like Christmas, New Year or Patron Holiday. The “maison Dior” chose Parisi 1876 to illuminate the Cruise 2021 fashion show in Lecce.Today Luminaries are also used as lamps and decorative objects worldwide, and I designed with Torquato Parisi some of them for my houses.
Panettone Marchesi : Milan is the homeland of Pantettone, a typical cake associated with the gastronomic traditions of Christmas. Everybody in Milan recognize that one of the best is that of Marchesi. Pasticceria Marchesi 1824 is one of the oldest and most renowned pastry shops in Milan. Its name is synonymous with excellence for the usage of best ingredients. Prada bought shares of Marchesi a few years ago, because they wanted to be part of this Milanese tradition.
Caffè Terzi: Caffè Terzi is unique Caffetteria in Bologna exclusively based on Coffee and Tea pouring. It has the aim to celebrate Coffee through product selection, toasting, processing, service and setting. Only Coffee, in its maximum expression. To enhance Coffee, Manule Terzi chose a very exclusive location in the heart of Bologna.
