Ceramics with its four elements: air, water, earth, and fire, the essence of life itself, has always been matter shaped by women 

for that close connection to the value of care, the foundation of society, of which they are the creators. The special characteristics of ceramic material, which from its origins lent itselves well to the preservation, processing and transportation of food, were grasped and understood in their enormous potential by women, the first manipulators of clay. Women's sense of responsibility and care for the community has always guided actions, and that is why it can be said that "Ceramics is Women." This is the thread that runs through the actions that were held during the fourth edition of the Matres Festival 2022 and continue beyond, with the desire to use ceramics as a powerful medium to convey a process of change that starts with women for the vision of a new society.

Among the moments of the" Matres International Women's Ceramics Festival" where ceramic art is the leitmotif of the many aspects involving the female world we find:

• - the opening performance "PACHAMAMA" born from the collaboration with Latin American artists Renata Amaral (Brazil), Angelica Amat Diaz (Brazil), Silvia Barrios (Argentina) and the Pandora artists that refers to the 'ancestral belief, not only Andean of the cult of Pachamama, the "Mother Earth."
• - the installation "The world in a house," created during the Festival, composed of many

ceramic houses made by the participating ceramists, created to symbolically convey at this difficult time, the profound value of the dwelling as a place of welcome and protection. In the same time , a collection was organized for the houses to be donated for the association "Forti Guerriere del Rione Sanità'" of Naples;

"D'altri diluvi una colomba ascolto" the event for Peace started from Albissola, transited to Faenza, during Buongiorno ceramica 2022 - May 21 and 22 curated by Mirta Morigi and Aps Pandora Artiste Ceramiste, was extended to the Matres Festival. An exhibition proposal composed of numerous ceramic doves and with a fundraising initiative. In this case The proceeds are to supplement the aid provided by the City of Cava de' Tirreni to the twin city of Kaunas in Lithuania, currently involved in helping Ukrainian refugees arriving in the neighboring country.

The ALTAR Mujeres SXXI y LGBTQ+ Project. by Argentine international artist Silvia Barrios DIRECTOR AND COORDINATOR OF MEDIALAB #CULTURA SOLIDARIA; a project activated since 2018 globally by participation in the calls produced by "MediaLab Artes del Fuego" and to bring to life a political work that seeks to combat gender violence and promotes environmental protection. Also proposed at Matres Festival was this collective workshop open to all, to create a collaborative work obtained by stitching and weaving work for the union of transmedia graphic ceramic plates. The work is a living memory of 240 images of women and people in the LGBTQ+ movement. The research performed by the artists' collective tells the stories of worldwide engagement in the Struggle for Human Rights, Gender Equality and the preservation of a healthy and sustainable life on the Planet of these people. The same inspirational images from this workshop were in parallel transposed into textile form to make two large tele-flags and give easier and more widespread visibility to the living stories collected in a traveling itinerary of militancy.

During the Matres Festival an important focus on ceramics as a conduit for actions in the social field was expressed in the Working Table entitled: " WOMEN POTTERS IN THE WORLD A BRIDGE BETWEEN CERAMIC ART,CULTURE AND SOCIAL ISSUES" with an exceptional focus on SAHRAWI WOMEN. Women who have been instrumental in coordinating the activities of the Tindouf- Algeria refugee camp fleeing an ongoing forgotten war in Western Sahara. 

In particular, the various training and vocational initiatives for the women of the refugee camp were highlighted, including the unique pottery workshop started also thanks to the 'active interest of the Italian Association EL Quali-Bologna.

A great moment of cultural exchange and input to greater awareness on the importance of the creative activity of clay manipulation came from the speeches of:
- Fatimetu Fraikin Core Saharawi ceramic artist from the Tindouf refugee camp with his exposition about the ceramic activity held in the middle of the Sahara desert with all the difficulties that come with it;

-Lynda Abdellatif - Senior Lecturer at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Tunis, and personal report regarding the scientific work svolo on the topic -Arts and Social- entitled "Ceramics as a path of evolution and unity for the person in need"; an intervention of intense testimony of the encounter-confrontation between people and children with disabilities as a moment of true transformation of the personal process of the artist and in general of the individual, towards realities often shrouded in stereotypes due to lack of knowledge and communication;  

- Angeliki Papadopoulou - Lecturer at Di.K.E.P.A. Pellas - Greece, with her fascinating project WATCH ME-COLLECT ME-TOUCH ME. A project where WATCH ME is an invitation to observe themore and draw people's attention to suggest new forms of communication that are enjoyable and creative. LISTEN TO ME is a call to the attention of friends of the Di.K.E.P.A. Center. Pellas to share thoughts, concerns, anxieties, joys and dreams.

      In the proposed project, listening is prompted by making ceramic bells that when touched emit a sound that invites one to suspend all activities to listen. The many ceramic bells made by the Center's youth create a sound installation as an expression of the need to listen and interaction and understand diversity and disability.

       The ALTAR Mujeres SXXI y Lgtbi+ Project  and its militant spirit subsequent to Matres has reached Germany and beyond. In fact, as an UNINVITED Project, it has reached Documenta 15 - Kassel, Germany, La12 Berlin Biennale of Contemporary Art, La Biennale di Venezia and The Berlin Parliament from September 2022 onward. The 'initiative is an expression of participatory art that organizes itself to spread moments of "living experience" where it starts from daily and global attention to context and the quality of human relationships. The established art spaces and the public street, were in this way involved with the active participation of a large audience to achieve the greatest dissemination of this work and the project in a global and collective vision. 

Also in this light is the pursuit of gestures to witness solidarity and closeness with the terrible of women in Iran and with the Iranian friends and artists with whom cultural and artistic exchange relationships have been established for several years. In the spirit of the slogan Donna Vita Libertà, a logo was created with graphic design by Bruna Pallante in order to emphasize and make stronger the communication of the act of cutting a strand of hair, as well as the creation of a video that gathers in the symbolic cutting of hair many of the ceramist women artists who have joined, just as a sign of solidarity and closeness.

On the occasion of November 25, 2022, International Day in opposition to Women's Violence, and as an extension to the event conceived by the AICC "Scarpette Rosse In Ceramica - Le Città Italiane della Ceramica dicono NO alla violenza sulle donne," the red shoes were joined by ceramic hijabs made by the artists of APS Pandora Artiste Ceramiste. An exhibition unicum took shape between the red slippers and the ceramic hijabs to signal with their aesthetic and emotional impact the desire to broaden the echo of contrast to this tragic situation that every day highlights increasingly disconcerting and dramatic episodes.

Bibliography

The new - Drawing with the right side of the brain - betty edwards- longanesi 2002

The Language of the Goddess - Marija Gimbutas - Venexia 2008

The intelligence of the soil - Paolo Pileri - The Other Economy 2022