Carthusia Edizioni: THE DREAMS OF LIU TO

Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte,

Fondazione Orchestra Sinfonica and Coro Sinfonico di Milano Giuseppe Verdi and Fondazione Antonio Stradivari Cremona – La Triennale

in collaboration with

Carthusia Edizioni

present

Roberto Piumini – Paolo Rui

THE DREAMS OF LIU TO

Illustrated volume for young readers

"You can 't make a good violin on the assembly line,
ten, a hundred, a thousand, all alike
You have to make it one at a time: your enthusiasm,
for each of them, must be special."

Straight from the encounter between Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte and Carthusia Edizioni, a publishing house which since more than twenty five years has been planning and publishing educational and amusing books for children and teen-agers, was born the great little volume THE DREAMS OF LIU TO, first title of the innovative series The Art of creation desired by Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte in order to let kids know how much beauty, joy and satisfaction can be drawn by choosing a profession connected with art and handicraft for their professional future.

The dreams of Liu To is a genuine voyage of discovery into the art of the lute-maker, one of the most renowed and beautiful art profession, a truly showpiece of our Country in the last five hundred years.

The young Liu To dreams of winning the Antonio Stradivari Contest in Cremona, the Olympics of lutherie, which rewards the most skilled lute-maker in the entire world.

Now how could Liu To manage to create a perfect violin and how could he compete with the greatest masters of this ancient and charming art?

Three different dreams, three adventures in the history of lutherie, three outstanding artists will rush at once to his aid.

The original story written by the great author Roberto Piumini, takes place between past and future, between dream and reality, passion, hard work and skill and reveals with an enchanting poetic sense, all secrets of violingmaking.

The text, in prose and verse, is enriched by the dreamlike and exciting illustrations realized by the renowned artist Paolo Rui.

The innovative format is a 24 pages paperboard-bound volume in concertina folded, a patented format by Carthusia. This unique format allows the story to be enjoyed in two ways. It can be read as a real picture book but it can be enjoyed as one long picture which tells the whole story as well. Inside, there are also four pages with information sheets full of insights and interesting facts about lute-making and Italian master lute-makers: Andrea Amati Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri “del Gesù”, edited by Virginia Villa, Alessandro Bardelli, Claudio Canevari from the Civica Scuola di Liuteria of City of Milan.

The volume The dreams of Liu To has been published on the occasion of the exhibition "Creating harmony. Luth-making from wood to music" (Milan, Auditorium Fondazione Cariplo, December 6^th 2012 - April 7th 2013) curated by Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte, Fondazione Orchestra Sinfonica and Coro Sinfonico di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Fondazione Antonio Stradivari Cremona – La Triennale.
This venture has been made possible through the generous support of Vacheron Constantin, historical manufacture of watches in Geneva and with the contribution of Intesa Sanpaolo.

The volume The dreams of Liu To has been realized in a special edition that will be distributed free of charge at the exhibition to children and teachers during the guided tours, organized by Le Voci della Città (Phone Number: +39 02 39104149).
The book will be presented on February 22nd, at 18.00 p.m., during the meeting Lutherie in poetry, at the Auditorium Fondazione Cariplo of Milan, as part of a series of events related to the exhibition.