Michele Ciacciofera on Ceramics, Writing, and The Library of Encoded Time

Michele Ciacciofera (Nuoro, 1969), who lives and works between Syracuse and Paris, discusses his lifelong engagement with ceramics in an interview with Irene Biolchini. His interest began early, influenced by Sicily's ceramic tradition and the study of decorative motifs from the Indus Valley, Mesopotamia, and Siculo-Arabic pottery. He views clay as the primordial material for creation, both mythologically and scientifically. His project "The Library of Encoded Time" uses reclaimed terracotta bricks inscribed with glazes, functioning as an open-ended installation that grows with each exhibition. New works for an upcoming show in Florence will incorporate bricks from a demolished museum annex, joining pieces from previous shows at Michel Rein (Paris), Vitamin Creative Space (Guangzhou), Marrakech, and Aghmat Voice Gallery and Fondation Aghmat. Ciacciofera also created glass sculptures at Seguso Vetri d'Arte 1397 in Murano for FIAC Projects 2019 at the Petit Palais, presented by Galerie Michel Rein. He cites Antonio Gramsci, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Michel Foucault, and Giorgio Agamben as intellectual influences, and emphasizes the role of the organic intellectual in addressing ecological and social crises. He maintains close ties with gallerist Michel Rein, writer Yasmina Khadra, and other artists and intellectuals in Paris.