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From May 31st to June 3rd, the international fair for marble, machinery and services will showcase much larger spaces, hosting both Italian and foreign exhibitors. New technology and new materials, great expectations for delegations from all over the world. A schedule of meetings and events bring Carrara into the limelight
Over one month before the official opening, CarraraMarmotec looks really promising: the exhibition areas will be 20% larger and the indoor areas will be even wider (+50%) after the opening of the brand-new 12,000 square metre hall that will be used for the very first time this year.
“We are extremely satisfied with the number and standard of the exhibitors, who see this year’s fair as an opportunity for reviving their business in the world markets. We have worked hard to increase the number and standard of our exhibitors – says Paris Mazzanti, director of CarraraFiere – and we can say we will have great news in the area of technology as well as new materials making their debut in Carrara; we expect a 15% rise in the number of foreign exhibitors as well as operators and delegations from all over the world.”
Because of the new areas, the fair will be bigger and, with the companies divided by theme areas, the fair will offer the visitors a better chance of getting prompt information, thus making the most of their time. A special area will host small-scale companies specialising in finished pieces, which will be located in the Idea & prodotto area, exhibiting the very best of modern traditional arts and crafts, with pieces bearing witness to the great expressive potentials of stone, ranging from objets d’art to floorings and facings, from staircases to kitchens and bathrooms.
For almost one year, the staff at CarraraFiere have been working hard to promote the fair all over the world in those regions where most visitors come from and in those countries that are expected to develop their business relations with Italy or increase their use of natural stone. “It was hard work, which really took us everywhere in the world – says President Giancarlo Tonini – but which also offered us a chance to see with our eyes how attractive Carrara and Italy are for the rest of the world, especially those who work with natural stone. We will see the results at the fair, bearing in mind that the final balance of any specialist exhibition is closely related to the industry trends and, even more, to the international economic trends. From the contacts I had with the operators, I see enthusiasm and a strong will that sound very promising.”
Delegations or groups of operators from Mediterranean Africa, Eastern Europe, South America, Middle East and the United States as well as from South Africa, France, Spain and the UK are awaited at the fair, and they will show the international and commercial value of Marmotec. One of the strengths of CarraraMarmotec is the schedule of commercial, scientific and cultural events, a tradition that this year will include top-rank subjects and speakers. Great expectations about the meeting with Mario Botta about Marble and stone in a new Renaissance, the presentation of the book on the great marble works built by the stone companies of the region of Carrara, while the schedule also includes some theme days about materials (white marble will be the subject of 2006) and the transfer of technology with the presentation of TRAS.LA, involving IMM and the Region Tuscany. As the coordinator of the stone-specialising regions, Tuscany is involved, along with the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) and the regions Lazio, Liguria, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily and the Self-Governing Province of Trento, in Inter.reg, a project aimed at developing tools for the promotion and investigation of natural stone.
The winners of the Marble Architectural Awards (MAA), the award given to designers who distinguished themselves for an excellent use of marble and stone, will be announced during the workshop Stones that make architecture. This year’s award will be given to works built in Europe. Other traditional events are the workshop about the restoration of stone and the presentation of Stone Sector, the book edited by IMM, containing updated, detailed statistics of the world production and trade of stone materials. Extremely important will be the meeting with the press, planned by the Federation of European Marble Industries (Euroroc), which has registered a European Trademark to be affixed on real natural stone materials. The Italian version is called Pietra Autentica and will protect both producers and end users.
(www.marbleandmore.com)
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