The International Museum of Ceramics (MIC) by Faenza It is a centre of world-class excellence in the study, conservation and promotion of theceramic art. Founded in 1908 thanks to the insight of Gaetano Ballardini, the museum was founded with the aim of collecting, cataloguing and promoting the rich tradition Faenza ceramics and international. Today, the MIC houses a vast collection, comprising over 60,000 works from every corner of the world and from all historical periods.
The museum tour is divided into numerous thematic sections e chronological: we start with theantiquitywith Greek, Etruscan and Roman pottery, right through to production medieval, Renaissance, Baroque e contemporary. Among the most famous sections, those dedicated to the Italian majolica, in particular to the production in Faenza of the 15th and 16th centuries, which made the city famous throughout Europe, to the extent that the term “faience” synonym for glazed ceramics.
Also of great interest are the Oriental collections, with elegant Chinese and Japanese porcelain, and the section contemporary, which features works by internationally renowned artists such as Pablo Picasso, Lucio Fontana, Carlo Zauli and other 20th-century masters. The museum also houses a rich specialist library, a restoration workshop and areas dedicated to teaching and to the experimentation.
The MIC is much more than a museum: it is a cultural centre vivo, which organises regular temporary exhibitions, international conferences, children’s workshops, guided tours themes and interactive tours. In 2011, he received the prestigious award of “A monument bearing witness to a culture of peace” from theUNESCO, confirming its role as cultural bridge across civilisations. A visit to the MIC is an immersive experience, captivating visitors with the variety of its collections and its ability to tell the history of humankind through a material that is both humble and noble: the ceramics.
