The Canclini family pays maximum attention and passion in the implementation of cultural and educational projects.
ART AND COLLECTING
The textile activity has always represented for people of all times a vehicle of their culture expression. In the ancient acts of weaving wefts and warps are hidden culture, ethos, fantasy, enthusiasm, optimism: many different ways to talk about man. Canclini took this to promote and support cultural initiatives in this industry because making a fabric is like entering a culture, a world of relationships, poetry and human creativity. Collecting ancient and modern artifacts is a concrete way for Canclini to keep this memory alive. Small and precious textile pieces from faraway cultures: iconographies, ancient artifacts consumed by time and evidence of an ancestral and poetic knowledge.
EXHIBITIONS
Canclini is passionate about art: it promotes exhibitions, supports museums, and commissions artworks or textile models.
For example, at the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan, you can find Leonardo da Vinci’s loom, reproduced at full scale by the Canclini family to mark their 80th anniversary and donated to the museum. This had never been done before, and by following the great Leonardo’s drawings, Canclini also ensured it was fully functional, as one would expect from an undisputed genius. The same loom is also at the company’s headquarters, as it symbolizes how innovation and craftsmanship are the heart of weaving.
In 2016, the exhibition “ESSERE È TESSERE (To Be is To Weave). 100 Artist Threads from the Canclini Collection” presented carefully selected modern and contemporary artworks from the extensive and refined Canclini Art Collection. It featured internationally renowned artists—from Arman to Alighiero Boetti, from Christian Boltansky and Daniel Buren to Christo and Jean-Claude, from Mario Della Vedova and Dorazio to Jannis Kounellis and Kimsooja, and including Maria Lai and Andy Warhol—in an evocative journey through the evolution of textile art from antiquity to the present day.
In 2019, Canclini signed a partnership with Villa Carlotta. The project “Telai e trame d’autore: da Leonardo a Maria Lai (Looms and Weaves by Masters: from Leonardo to Maria Lai)” aimed to present a selection of works from the Canclini Collection to the public; these pieces simply and evocatively highlight the extraordinary versatility of fabric, an integral part of everyone’s life.
The Canclini Collection also holds many commissioned artworks, often created using materials supplied by the Canclini company or inspired by the world of weaving, such as the work by Jannis Kounellis.
Canclini aims to continue creating culture through new exhibitions, offering the public emotional experiences through its constantly growing Art and Models Collection.
EDUCATIONAL
The passion for fabrics is also applied from Canclini in several projects connected to fashion and design schools. In fact, Canclini has been collaborating for many years with IED and Marangoni institutes in Milan and with some English schools, such as Central Saint Martin’s: this collaboration allows students to express themselves and get the contact with a dynamic and pro-active company getting back the experience of new sources inspiration and feeding up new talented people.
