cover - Blue Liguria - Sagep

Rinasce il presepe dei “Macachi”
The Christmas Crèche of the Macachi is Reborn
Macachi, or in other words, the
people’s crèches of the town
of Albisola. The term may sound
almost derogatory, instead it is
charged with affection. And this is
understood when you stand in
front of the little statues and
figures, so rich in poetry and
memories, which have been made
in the thousands for more than 150
years. Today, pushed by crèche
figure collectors and the local Lions
Club, Albisola is attempting a
historical and cultural recovery.
Witness to the phenomenon is the
book by Alba Docilia called “I
Macachi di Albisola”, published by
Sagep.
Let us start from the little statues.
The oldest are not very rigorous in
their lines and their colors (this is
why the ceramists of the past
would disdain them, feeling that
they were far from the true works
of art that came from their trade).
They were also considered lacking
in sentiment, and even the faith of
the artist was called into question,
because they were made for sale
and to alleviate, a bit, the
atmosphere of poverty at the time
of the Christmas celebrations. It
was an art that enthused above all
women and children.
In Liguria there is a cultured
tradition of crèches but they were
banned by edict during the
Napoleonic era. In Albisola, the land
of ceramics, the crèche was reborn
in a poorer form. The ingredients
did not cost anything – just a fistful
of clay, labor was done in-house,
the figures were fired for free in the
ovens of the many ceramic stovemakers
(which at the start of the
20th century numbered over 50 in
di madre in figlia, la legna per la
cottura, dai boschi del primo
entroterra, e la terra. Perché le
fabbriche cavavano l’argilla a pochi
metri dalla sede delle aziende.
Grazie alla particolarità del terreno,
anticamente sommerso.
Tutto ciò che per i nonni era fatica
e un aiuto a sopravvivere, oggi
diventa poesia. Da recuperare nella
memoria di una storia che si
sviluppa tra Ottocento e Novecento
e arriva fino alla vigilia della
seconda guerra mondiale.
“I Macachi di Albisola” racconta
questa tradizione. Con i suoi
personaggi (le figurinaie e le loro
statuine: la Natività, Gelindo e
Gelinda, i pastori, i Re Magi), le
notizie sulla alla produzione. Il libro
rientra, come una matrioska, in un
progetto più ampio: la
realizzazione di cinquanta Natività
(la Madonna, San Giuseppe,
Gesù Bambino, più
l’asino e il bue), primo
atto di un presepe di
25 statuine che sarà
completato negli anni, e
donato alle parrocchie di
Albisola e del circondario,
per creare un itinerario.
Una magia di Natale,
e la voglia di
riscoprire
un’identità.
the small Riviera town) – payment
was offered in prayer: “For the souls
of our dead”. Everything for the
Macachi, was done, was from,
Albisola. Labor, the molds – passed
on from mother to daughter, the
wood for the ovens – from the
forests of the Apennine Mountains
behind the town, and the clay –
dug out of the earth just a few
meters from the headquarters of
the companies, thanks to the
peculiarities of the land, which
once was underwater.
Everything that was once, for our
grandparents, a great fatigue and
an aid to be able to survive, today
becomes poetry. And now we seek
to recover the memory of a story
that developed between the 1800s
I "macachi" di Albisola furono così chiamati
dai ceramisti del passato per rendere
sprezzantemente la lontananza dalle opere
della loro arte. Sagep gli dedica un libro, in
uscita per Natale
The "macachi" of Albisola were given a
derogatory name by the ceramic artists of
the past to show their disdain for this low
version of their art. Sagep Editori is
dedicating a whole book to them, which
will be out in time for Christmas
libri
blue
and the 1900s and reached the eve
of the Second World War.
The book, “I Macachi di Albisola”,
tells of this tradition, with its
personalities, its figurines, and their
statues – Nativity, Gelindo and
Gelinda, the shepherds, the Three
Kings – and news on production.
The book encloses other stories, like
a Russian matrioska, in a widerranging
project: the creation of
fifty Nativity figures (the Madonna,
St. Joseph, Baby Jesus, the donkey,
the ox). This is the first act in a
crèche that will be completed over
the years and donated to the Parish
of Albisola and its surroundings to
create an itinerary for Christmas
magic, and the desire to rediscover
an identity.
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