Giancarlo Busato

Printmaker

©Giovanni Torresan

©Telegrafici

The wandering printmaker

Giancarlo's grandfather Ottorino was a printmaker
He has collaborated with Academies of Fine Arts and Italian cultural Institutes
Almost over 1,000 pupils attend his lessons every year

They call Giancarlo Busato “the wandering printmaker” because, in his life, he has spread his knowledge in every part of the world: the Academies of Fine Arts in Warsaw and Zwolle, as well as in the Italian Cultural Institutes in São Paulo, Sydney and Prague. He also spread his know-how at academies in Trujillo in Peru, San Luis Potosí in Mexico and Barboursville in the US. Giancarlo is so in love with his job that he wants everybody to know all its peculiarities. For example, the relationship between the artist and the artisan is very close to his heart. "This is everything to me: I couldn’t exist without an artist and this is the great difference between my craft and other artisans’ work." Passionate, vibrant and communicative, he still has a dream: to find a young and passionate apprentice to whom he can transmit his craft, someone who could continue his tradition.

Interview

©Matteo Sostizzo

©Telegrafici

Can you describe the difficulties of your work?: There are many. This is a craft that can be learnt only by watching a master at work, trying to capture their secrets. Nowadays, the main problem is that less and less young artists believe that art can become their full time job so they do not produce many artworks, preferring to find a more steady job.
What prevents young people starting this kind of job?: I’m looking for somebody with my same passion: this is not easy to find as most young people are even reluctant to get their hands dirty with ink. It’s impossible to do this job and feel the need to continuously wash your hands.
Was your father pleased you wanted to continue his job?: He had a mixed reaction: I knew he was happy, but he didn’t want to show it and was even afraid that I could steal his art and notoriety. He wanted me to start university, which I did, but I couldn’t resist and after one year I gave up.
What was your motivation to start travelling?: I started to spread my knowledge as soon as I started working in the bottega. I understood that I could not do as my father and grandfather did, that they had artists coming to their workshop. My hope is that by doing this, young people would be inspired and maybe one day decide to start this craft themselves.

Giancarlo Busato is a master artisan: he began his career in 1996 and he started teaching in 1999