The man of the cribs awarded in Florence – Chronicle
The man of the cribs, Claudio Ladurini of Fiumalbo, yesterday received a special prize as part of the prestigious Florence Prize for Literature and Visual Arts in the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio. The jury awarded him “for the extraordinary nature of real artistic masterpieces, created in small reproductions of the Nativity in mechanical and non-mechanical cribs, made of poor art”. The juror Pierpaolo Guidi then commented: “I would like to point out the opportunity to go and visit the 30 extraordinary nativity scenes on display …
The man of the cribs, Claudio Ladurini of Fiumalbo, yesterday received a special prize as part of the prestigious Florence Prize for Literature and Visual Arts in the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio. The jury awarded him “for the extraordinary nature of real artistic masterpieces, created in small reproductions of the Nativity in mechanical and non-mechanical cribs, made of poor art”. The juror Pierpaolo Guidi then commented: “I would like to point out the opportunity to go and visit the 30 extraordinary nativity scenes on display at the Rivoli hotel, truly extraordinary, beautiful works that someone may have thought of”, with clear reference to the controversy aroused by one of these nativity scenes, set at the foot of the collapsed Morandi bridge in Genoa.
A long applause confirmed the appreciation of Ladurini, who tells us: “I have welcomed with pleasure this recognition which is not a point of arrival, which I continue every day to create free cribs with a lot of passion”.
An exhibition of Ladurini’s works has also recently been requested in Modena city, to be decided now whether the timing of the set-up will allow it to be carried out during these Christmas holidays. Member of the Italian Cribs Association of Rome and collaborator with various masters in the sector, Ladurini currently has 30 cribs set up in the basement of the former Chiesolina di Pievepelago and various school groups of the Apennines are already interested in this parish exhibition. The Pieve exhibition is intended to be held permanently throughout the year, the one in Florence will end on January 6. Among the cribs on display, in addition to the traditional ones, there are many with reference to painful topical issues such as the crib in a Covid ward and the tragedy of migrants. “In all the cribs of Ladurini – said Chiara Caridi of the Rivoli hotel – the message of Christmas is very clear, inviting everyone to always present the tragedies experienced to build a future of greater awareness and hope. Each of its cribs offers points for deep reflection for this Christmas moment “. Ladurini, 82, married with two children, has been an appreciated pastry chef and since retirement he uses the days to add new cribs to the more than 500 so far made (free of charge) with over 2,000 special figurines in addition to those purchased often using his entire pension . “It is a passion – concludes Claudio – and I like it when it is used for charity”. In fact, the Florentine exhibition (which registers about 6 thousand visitors) has free admission (every day from 2 to 8 pm) to collect donations.
Giuliano Pasquesi
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