“An important tool for protection but also for growth and valorisation for small and medium-sized Calabrian artisan businesses which often express and describe the culture of the territories with their artefacts, challenging an overbearing and invasive globalisation”. The president of CNA Calabria Giovanni Cugliari thus comments on the approval of the European regulation regarding GI labelling, therefore the indication of the geographical area of origin also for artisanal and industrial products.
“It is the outcome of a battle on which the Cna has spent a lot because identifying and “signaling” local excellence with a brand means protecting them, giving space to the network of small and medium-sized artisan businesses and with them turning the spotlight on the history and the traditions of the territories. The qualifying production phases, in fact, take place in the area to which the product is connected, in a symbiotic relationship that results in cultural heritage to be protected”, adds Cugliari.
“The artisan districts and workshops represent a great wealth for Calabria – he explains – as vectors of tourist attraction and support for the economy. I think of the Seminara Ceramics, conceived and worked in the heart of Magna Graecia, of the artisan workshops that are a true hotbed of tradition, technique and culture. Also linked to Magna Graecia is the goldsmith’s art of Crotone, a mirror of the Greek cultural heritage, and testimonial of Made in Italy in the world. Up to the tradition of wood, from the luthiers of Bisignano, who for six generations have handed down the art and techniques of building these stringed instruments from father to son, to the Vibo area whose workshops produce artefacts of all kinds, including pipes , true works of art carved from tree heath, one of the most valuable woods in the world. Also important and well-known is the tradition of the cabinetmakers of Angitola, as well as that of the master basket makers of San Giorgio Morgeto, artisans dedicated to the manufacturing of baskets woven with hot-spun chestnut staves, and that of the weaving mill of Soveria Mannelli where the textile company is located oldest in Calabria”.
“Traditions that “tell” the territory and whose shops can be the references of tourist-cultural routes, also becoming an economic driving force. We are very happy that GI labeling lends itself to starting such a path, as CNA we believe it is important – concludes Cugliari – to maintain low costs and simple request procedures for artisans and small businesses to ensure that it is a truly accessible tool ”.