Lace Making School of Gorizia

Italiano

The Lace Making School of Gorizia, in its current institutional form, has taken on the inheritance and continues an age-old tradition which is still vital nowadays. The production of lace in Gorizia, in fact, has always been associated to the teaching of this art, founding in this an opportunity to spread and to hand on itself.

That happened since the origins, in the second half of the XVIIth century, with the creation of the monasterium of Orsoline Mothers with the annexed feminine school. Bobbin lace courses were part of the educational programs of the school, following the tradition of Flanders, homeland of the Mothers. After the 2nd World War, the "Royal Lace School" developed its own didactic activity, first as State school, then as part of Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia.  Today the School is run by a board of directors with regional administrative staff.

The main goals of the School are the promotion and training of students in lacemaking techniques and the training of new lace teachers. Unique in Italy, the School gives an officially recognised degree of Lace Making Teacher. It carries out its activities in the whole Region, with over 74 courses in 42 towns attended by over 1.400 students. The School courses are free of charge.

The School offers two main adresses: the first is the ordinary lace course, with six years of a very defined program at the end of which the degree of Lace Making Teacher  is gained. The second consists of courses of three years, just to learn the most common lace techniques. There are also a special course "post degree", whose aim is to develop to the highest level lace makers' professinal abilities, and a course of artistic experimentation, to develop the expressive abilities and integrate lace o the multiple ways of contemporary art. 

The School constantly takes part in a number of national and international lace shows and competition, always achieving great results that testify the high technical and artistic level of Gorizia bobbin lace. It also published many books, in order to spread the knowledge of past and present of Gorizia lace.

Images