A personal note
Gioia was born from a personal journey. My background in intellectual property law made me aware of how often traditional cultural expressions, such as craftsmanship, are appropriated without recognition or fair compensation for the artisans behind them. More broadly, many living know-hows remain weakly protected by existing legal frameworks, and the people who carry these practices remain insufficiently recognized.
These observations shaped my desire to create a project rooted in encounters, stories and respect for living cultures, privileging meaningful connection over consumption. Gioia was created in response to this: a curatorial project exploring contemporary design through craftsmanship, people, places and cultural initiatives that keep gestures, knowledge and traditions alive.
Over time, through conversations with artisans, workshops and cultural initiatives across different regions of the world, another recurring observation emerged: craftsmanship has long been socially and economically undervalued, which has distanced some younger generations from these practices. As a result, many traditional know-hows are progressively disappearing.
In a world shaped by fast production and accelerated consumption, we often lose sight of the value of time: the time of making, learning and transmission. And while “ethnic” aesthetics circulate widely, what gives them meaning: the stories, the gestures and the people behind them, is too often left aside.
Gioia exists to bring time, context and respect back into the conversation, inviting a slower, more intentional way of looking, choosing and engaging with design.
