Visite guidate alle botteghe artigiane di Firenze. Or, how Florence is promoting its traditional crafts.

Hot on the heels of Vienna Design Week 2013 and its very successful “Passionswege” programme news reaches us from Florence of an alternative approach to rejuvenating and invigorating traditional handicrafts.

One that involves nothing more complicated than leaving the craftsfolk to do what they do.

One of the confusing aspects about Florence is that despite the 8 billion tourists who visit the city every year, the streets of the town centre are still largely populated by small trades workshops. Walk down any side street or lane in the city and you’ll discover a joiner next to a leather workshop next to a glassmaker and upholsterer, all quietly going about their business.

The city has, in many respects, changed little since the renaissance.

Nor has the income of the tradesmen, and many of them struggle to make a living.

For while the tourists flock through the streets buying the tourist tat mockeries of Florentine crafts en mass, the small workshops producing the originals remain largely untroubled by the throngs.

In an attempt to counter this the Fondazione di Firenze per l’Artigianato Artistico, a foundation established to support and further traditional handicrafts in the city, are now organising guided tours through the traditional handicraft bottegas of the city.

Led by by guides who themselves have a professional relationship to traditional handicrafts the tours introduce visitors to the depth and variety of handicraft to found in the city, and to workshops ranging from family concerns in the umpteenth generation to more recent additions to the creative community, including, for example, Bauhaus Uni Weimar graduate Giulia Materia.

In all workshops the tradesfolk take the time to explain their work, demonstrate the key techniques and to answer visitors questions. The guides acting as translators if and when required.

And the real joy is that owing to the limited space in many of the workshops, the group sizes are also limited, which intensifies the experience and promotes the visitor and their interests to the centre of the experience.

The tours aren’t about selling goods, but selling the fact that the workshops are there.

And having toured the city with a guide you are then better informed to explore the rest of the city in your own time and according to your own preferences.

Quite aside from the chance to learn more about traditional crafts, including the creation of marbled paper or Florentine mosaic, the tours are also a lovely reminder that in all cities, not just Florence one has craftsmen and craftswomen who can make objects for you according to your requirements. They might not all be as visible as those in Florence. But they are there.

Sounds obvious. But how many of us are honestly aware of such?

And not just make. Also repair.

For as any fool know, the best form of recycling is repairing.

Should you find yourselves in Florence tours of the handicraft workshops can be organised via the FLR Crafts Showroom, Via dei Michelozzi 2, Florence.

In addition, the Fondazione di Firenze per l’Artigianato Artistico also run a complex at the Vecchio Conventino, Via Giano della Bella 20/1 which is home to some 20 craftsfolk of various persuasions who can be visited without appointment.

Further details on the Fondazione di Firenze per l’Artigianato Artistico, the Vecchio Conventino and the guided tours can be found at: www.fondazioneartigianato.it