This Salento monastery becomes the backdrop for a celebration of local craft

In a picturesque 17th-century monastery in Salve, a town in Italy’s south-eastern region of Salento, a design exhibition brings together the work of fifteen contemporary creatives to celebrate local craft heritage and landscapes.

‘Intrecci•Intertwinings’: designers experimenting with southern Italian craft

Many of the designers in the show, titled ‘Intrecci•Intertwinings’, have harnessed materials or making methods from the Salento region, also known as the ‘heel’ of Italy. The exhibition marks the first chapter of a broader initiative to culturally regenerate Salve and the surrounding area, ensuring its identity and economy transcends the confines of seasonal tourism.

The majority of participants are Italian, and include glassmakers 6:AM, designers Duccio Maria Gambi and Andrea Vitti, and Tipstudio, the material research-driven design practice of Imma Matera and Tommaso Lucarini. Organised by the municipality of Salve and Maria Elena Perrotta, the exhibition is co-curated by design specialists Valentina Rito and Giacomo Niccolai.

‘In curating the exhibition, we wanted to bring forward practices that intertwine, as the title suggests, the tangible and intangible heritage of the Salento region with contemporary narratives,’ says Rito, who has family heritage in Lecce, a province in Salento.

The three themes explored in the exhibition – light and ritual; threads and weaving; material and roots – are all ‘grounded in the territory’s cultural history, but interpreted through new languages,’ Rito says.

The former Capuchin monastery, surrounded by cypress trees on the outskirts of Salve, is ‘an active participant in the narrative’ of the exhibition, Rito adds. ‘Its architecture, original frescoes, untouched rooms full of memory – all of this deeply informed how the works are displayed and how they are read.’

The choices of designers and artisans for the show responded to the three chosen themes. ‘We were looking for people with a deep understanding of processes and materials, who could fully embrace the exhibition’s exploration of heritage, both in terms of craft and the use of local resources,’ says Rito.

6:AM, which attracted acclaim for its Milan Design Week exhibition this year, has created blown glass sculptures for the exhibition using powdered ‘Pietra Leccese’ (Lecce stone), a limestone local to the region.

Andrea Vitti, a designer from Lecce, presents ‘Bolla’, a centrepiece made from local olive wood, crafted in collaboration with wood turner Rodolfo Rolli. Like many olive trees in the region, the source tree for the work was affected by the plant disease Xylella – but, through this creation, finds new life.

Florence-based designer Duccio Maria Gambi developed new work for the show during a residency with local stone manufacturer Bianco Cave. His work with Lecce stone resulted in a series of furniture pieces, slabs and a wall piece that experiment with decorative liquid pigments. Graphic motifs on the stone slabs make reference to engravings left on rocks at a beach in Lecce, as well as images from Gambi’s own memories of holidays in Salento.

Other exhibitors include artist and designer Cosma Frascina, Spanish architecture and design studio Mayice, Milan-based designer Marco Guazzini and lighting artisans Morghen Studio.

The team behind ‘Intrecci•Intertwinings’ sees the exhibition as a ‘platform’ where design becomes ‘a catalyst to reflect on identity, transformation and the future of the territory,’ says Rito. ‘The goal was to foster a dialogue where contemporary design becomes a way to revisit, reinterpret and revitalise traditional knowledge.’

‘Intrecci•Intertwinings’ takes place at the Former Monastery of Capuchins, Salve, Italy, 31 August to 14 September 2025