Francesca Casali
Prova del Cuoco at Fiume Veneto
10Jan2018
Map of the territory
Stories of emigration, and an economy that transforms the territory. In the workshop in which the craftsman worked like a magician, there are few tools, fire and water. The raw material was forged, extruded, milled, to create blades of all kinds: knives, rural tools, household goods, scissors, weapons, turbines for airplanes, and anything else the market commissioned, including for shows and films like Braveheart. The need to bring water for agricultural purposes led to the development of factories, and saw the birth of the Maniago irrigation channel in 1454. In the Middle Ages, Maniago was already the capital of knife-blades. A continuous evolution of trade and work opportunities. In the nineteenth century, children would start learning the trade young, in the family or in the factory.
A blade for every knife, a handle for every blade
Here’s a true story: at the age of 15 Carlotta had a place in the factory, and at the age of almost 100 she was present at the ribbon cutting to inaugurate the Coricama Museo. Carlotta is the emblem of the female role in the factories. During the visit I touched the rough pieces, and imagined that fish glue on reels to which the emery powder was glued: thick, medium, fine, according to the different abrasion phases.
Unfinished scissors
They say “knives” but we actually discover a whole world of blades! In the later workshops of Maniago Libero I travelled back in time a number of generations: blackened walls, rooms full of material. The manual work of the craftsman takes place with machines, but it still takes a lot of time, with fixed roles between men and women. Fifty hours and more for a pair of scissors that can cut asilk thread! Solinger is a well-known German brand take makes scissors. But did you know that the factory first started in Maniago? In the 100 companies manufacturing blades today, work is carried out by young people using advanced IT systems. The computer has also joined to the looms, the skeins, in the Museo Arti Tessili near the Coricama, offering international courses. The visit continues at Palazzo Attimis, then in the squares and streets that are partying, an opportunity to meet the companies working in the sector and watch some work, and to taste the local specialties and typical products: the onions of Cavasso or of Val Cosa, the pitina, the craft beers of Cavasso Nuovo, the cheeses, made with red onion or figs, while having fun.
Basket of penknives
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Francesca Casali
Francesca Casali
