LONDON.- The renovated and expanded Gilbert Galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, permanent spaces dedicated to the extraordinary collection of decorative arts of the British philanthropists Rosalinde (1913–1995) and Arthur Gilbert (1913–2001), are reopening to the public.

Housed at the V&A since 2008, the Collection brings together around 1,200 masterpieces from around the world, including one of the most important collections of micromosaics in the world, with 19th-century examples made in Italy by master mosaicists decorating jewellery, portraits, boxes and tables with landscapes, architectural views, animals and historical scenes of extraordinary precision.

The art of micromosaic, a historic Italian excellence which has one of its most authoritative and vital centers in the world in Ravenna, finds even more space in the new expansion of the Gilbert Galleries thanks to the collaboration with SICIS, the Italian company, based in Ravenna, internationally recognized for its excellence in the art of mosaic and micromosaic and for its ability to reinterpret this historic technique in a contemporary language.

This partnership between SICIS and the V&A continues and strengthens the dialogue begun in 2018 on the occasion of the lecture “Micromosaics: Highlights from the Gilbert Collection”, held by Dr. Heike Zech and dedicated to the masterpieces of the Gilbert collection, during which the master mosaicists of the SICIS atelier created a micromosaic plaque made entirely by hand, reproducing a portion of the famous 19th-century “The Flora of Two Sicilies” table, a masterpiece created by Michelangelo Barberi in the 1850s, one of the most important objects of the Gilbert Collection at the V&A.

An elaborate and meticulous project that required 3 months of work and which SICIS has also documented in a video which, within the new display of the Gilbert Galleries, shows how the most modern tools and materials used are applied to the principles of micromosaic techniques, unchanged since 1730.

As part of the renovation and expansion of the Gilbert Galleries, SICIS contributed to the creation of an educational and interactive installation that guides visitors through the micromosaic process. The central element of the new exhibit is an interactive table for which SICIS produced and donated the materials and tools used in the traditional process: glass ‘filati’, enameled glass elements and authentic tools used by mosaic artisans. Alongside these, an exhibition of raw materials and semi-finished products demonstrates how thousands of tiny tiles are created, selected and assembled to create miniature images of astonishing chromatic richness, offering the public the opportunity to understand the creation process firsthand.

The installation also includes the micromosaic work, handmade by the master mosaicists of the SICIS atelier in Ravenna, reproducing a portion of the large table "The Flora of Two Sicilies " from the Gilbert Collection. Placed in dialogue with the original, this contemporary work highlights the continuity between historical masterpieces and contemporary research, demonstrating how the same technique can still be a field of artistic experimentation today. The contemporary work, created using thousands of very thin glass ‘filati’, was faithfully crafted following the traditional micromosaic technique and it’s presented in dialogue with the original from the Gilbert Collection.

"We are honored to collaborate once again with the Victoria and Albert Museum" says Gioia Placuzzi, COO of SICIS. "Micromosaic is one of the most sophisticated forms of European decorative art. With our work, we want to help preserve this extraordinary tradition and, at the same time, demonstrate how it can continue to evolve through new artistic and design interpretations."

With its contribution, SICIS strengthens the bridge between past and present, demonstrating how this centuries-old tradition continues to evolve in today's laboratories, through innovative materials, new applications, and dissemination projects designed for an international audience.