Tecnargilla, the showcase of innovation

The twenty-fifth Tecnargilla, the world’s most important exhibition of ceramic and brick technologies organised by Rimini Fiera in collaboration with Acimac, will open its doors on Monday 26 September. The event promises to be a big success given the excellent results achieved in 2015 by the Italian ceramic machinery industry, which will be out in force at Rimini in keeping with its world-leading position.

The Rimini show will offer a preview not only of the best innovative technology available on the market but also of the latest developments in ceramic aesthetics and future trends in interior design and architecture. The technological offerings will be divided into the usual theme sections: Tecnargilla, devoted to technologies for tile production; Kromatech (Hall B5/D5), the most exclusive showcase of aesthetic trends in ceramics, from raw materials to glazes and from graphic design to products for digital decoration; and Claytech (Hall A5/C5), the area devoted to suppliers of machinery and equipment for bricks and tiles which will host more than 60 sector companies. One of the show’s new features will be the debut of T-White (Hall C2/C3), the new exhibition section devoted to the increasingly important hi-tech sector of plant and machinery for ceramic sanitaryware and tableware.

As always, the figures confirm Tecnargilla’s leadership position. In a floor space of around 80,000 sq.m, 7% more than in 2014, the show will host about 500 exhibitors, including 40% non-Italian companies from around 25 different countries, most notably China, Spain, Germany, Turkey and Portugal.

In line with previous editions, the organisers are expecting an attendance of around 32,000 professional visitors. More than half of these will be international attendees from around a hundred different countries, a figure that confirms Tecnargilla’s leading role on the international stage. Exhibitors will also have a chance to organise B2B meetings with the more than 150 foreign buyers from North Africa, South America, Eastern Europe, Russia and the former CIS states, Iran, Turkey, India, Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Conferences

Two key international conferences will take place in Rimini. The first of these, to be held on the afternoon of Tuesday 27 September, is the 8th Acimac Annual Meeting on digital ceramic tile decoration technologies, organised by Acimac and Tecnargilla in cooperation with Ceramic World Review, which over the years has become the most eagerly anticipated event amongst Italian and international professionals. The latest innovations in the field of digital printing technologies will be presented by leading companies in the sector, including Sacmi Intesa, System, Projecta Engineering (Siti B&T Group), Durst, Efi Cretaprint, Tecnoferrari and Xaar, as well as Colorobbia in the ink segment and Macs Tech in the colour management sector. The conference, moderated by Prof. Paolo Zannini, will also provide an opportunity to take stock of the current situation and explore potential future developments in technology based on “full digital” printing processes.

Paolo Zannini, Chairman of the Italian Ceramic Society (I.Cer.S.), will also moderate the second conference, to be held on Wednesday 28 September (10.00 am in Sala Diotallevi) entitled “The international ceramic raw materials market in Europe”, organised by I.Cer.S. with the support of Acimac and Tecnargilla. Leading international experts will discuss the industry and market situation in different countries: Luc Bourgy (Imerys, Ceramic Centre Limoges) for France, Bayram Altıntop (Turkish Society of Raw Materials) for Turkey, Mauro Mariani for Ukraine, Victor Vieira Lisboa (LNEG, Amadora) for Portugal, Roberto Caroli for Germany and Manuel Regueiro (IGME, Madrid) for Spain.

Exhibitions and events

Aesthetics will once again take centre stage in the Ceramic Workshop, the series of exhibitions and events on future material and colour trends curated by architecture practice Azzolini Tinuper. This year’s space is called Ceramic Bang and will focus on the evolution of the world of ceramics from its origins through to today’s extremely high definition textures and decorations.

The show will also host the IED Lab exhibition section, which will present special projects involving alternative uses of ceramic materials carried out by the Istituto Europeo del Design in Milan, and the Tecnargilla Design Award. This award is presented by Tecnargilla to innovative and original projects based on the technologies, colours, decorations and finishes that contribute to the aesthetics of ceramic tiles. The Tecnargilla Design Award 2016 will focus on the theme of “Light and Shade” and will see the participation of eleven machinery manufacturers and glaze and colour producers: Colorobbia Italia, Digital Design, Emar Impianti, Esmalglass Itaca, Esmaltes, LB Officine Meccaniche, Metco, Sacmi, Sertile, System Group and Torrecid Group. The jury will be made up of technical and creative directors from ceramic companies, ceramic tile retailers, designers and journalists.

The Ceramic Workshop will also include an area set aside for the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza (MIC), where a series of selected works from the Premio Faenza collection illustrating the last 40 years of ceramic art history will be displayed. Alongside design objects created by some of the greatest Italian designers (Mari, Sottsass, La Pietra), works by ceramic sculptors will offer a broad picture of ceramic art in recent decades while looking forward to the innovations of the 21st century. Plenty of space will be set aside for experimental works by Francesco Pacelli, Federica Ditta and Cristiano Pesca using 3D printers built by the Romagna region based company WASP. The area will also showcase an installation by Nicola Boccini entitled “Re-evolution 16.9”, an interactive multimedia experiment based on 15 porcelain panels controlled by an artistic app.