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AURUM. Dal fuoco alla forma. L’esperienza dagli Archivi Valcambi

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This unique exhibition is dedicated to the history of gold, a material that has accompanied humanity: from the ability to forge precious metals to the way in which man himself has shaped it from its original state as a raw material to its purest, processed form, transformed into an ingot. To tell this millennia-old story, the Chiasso Cultural Center has chosen Valcambi, an industrial excellence that this year celebrates its sixty-fifth anniversary since its founding in Chiasso, as its traveling companion. From the Valcambi Archives, tools, drawings, molds, engravings, photographs, and films are brought to the Spazio Officina. In addition to representing testimonies to the past, these items offer a close-up look at how a product is created, the skills required, and how techniques have evolved over time.

The exhibition AURUM. From Fire to Form. The Experience from the Valcambi Archives recounts the journey of this coveted metal through human hands, a story of industry and human ingenuity. It's a world of high temperatures, chemistry, analysis, advanced technologies, and rigorous controls, where gold is refined, verified, melted, and transformed. Here, cutting-edge technology meets attention to detail—still almost artisanal—through the creation of unique products.

The title, AURUM. From Fire to Form, recalls the ancient image of the workshop and establishes a dialogue with contemporary industry. Machines and tools change, but the ability to observe, evaluate, and work the material remains central. It's the art of transformation that becomes an artistic process: from concept to design, from bas-relief to matrix, from casting to stamping, AURUM recounts this relationship between man and material, here a precious material and a symbol of permanence.

Through the Valcambi archives, an industrial story also becomes a story of the territory. The choice of the Spazio Officina couldn't have been more fitting: a site originally used for automotive repairs, it is indeed a place that celebrates the art of "know-how," of "know-how to produce," and etymologically embodies this vocation.

The exhibition is divided into seven "art rooms": by exploring them one after the other and discovering materials from the Valcambi Archives—ranging from historic instruments to finished products—one grasps the hard work, ingenuity, and precision required to transform raw metal into the celebrated finished ingots, where gold becomes a graphic symbol and industrial production becomes a cultural heritage, perhaps less well-known but no less astonishing.

Features

  • When
    From 29.10.2026 to 29.11.2026
  • Event Category Art Exhibitions, Cultural