Adele Stefanelli

Larif, Kautar

Ceramicist

©Adele Stefanelli

©Luca Loro di Motta

©Adele Stefanelli

The ceramicist interpreter

Adele has lived in Geneva and in the Sudan
She works in different kinds of stoneware and occasionally in porcelain
She makes her own glazes

Adele Stefanelli, who is of Venetian descent, creates ceramics that are strongly influenced by Chinese and Korean ceramics which she first saw as a student while visiting the Baur collection in Geneva. She was also struck by the simple beauty of Sudanese pottery which she discovered while teaching English in the Sudan. The objects in the Victoria and Albert Museum and in the Shanghai Museum, the dozens of books she has collected from all over the world strongly marked her path. The perfect beauty of the Song ceramics fascinated her and became her guiding light. She has spent time in China and South Korea, watching and learning from the finest masters. On returning from the Sudan, Adele settled in Tuscany where she opened her first ceramics workshop and worked there until 2003. In 2019, she returned to her Venetian roots and opened her workshop in Venice: it’s her little haven, off the beaten track, where absolute peace and calm reign.

Interview

©Adele Stefanelli

©Luca Loro di Motta

What is your educational background?: When I was young, I dreamed of being an interpreter. So, after high school, I went to the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting at the University of Geneva. One day, for fun, I took a ceramic course. I liked it, but it was when I visited the Baur collection in Geneva that I really fell in love with ceramics. That was a revelation.
What did you do after your University studies?: I finished university and went to teach English in the Sudan, where I stayed for nine months. At that time, in Africa, there were many foreign professors who were teaching the population how to speak English. I imagined staying in Sudan for the rest of my life, but suddenly war broke out.
Have you had a break from ceramics?: I had been working for a number of years as a ceramicist, but I was sick of doing the same things every day. So I decided to quit and work as an interpreter – my first love – for the following ten years. Between 2003 and 2015, I didn’t touch clay. Then I suddenly realised how much I was missing it, I started doing ceramics again and haven't looked back.
Where did you learn Kintsugi?: While I was in China, I had the opportunity to practice Kintsugi, the ancient Japanese technique of repairing broken ceramics with pure gold. I then went on to Kyoto, Japan, to attend private Kintsugi classes with Mio Heki to perfect my technique.

Adele Stefanelli is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1986