Liberati knew that five years of school were not enough to start a such complex activity, so he asked several ceramists to work in their ceramic workshop. Unfortunately, no one accepted because they all knew his intentions, so he asked to his teacher Bozzelli, that was vice principal of the school, to attend one more year of school laboratory to improve his skills with the pottery’s wheel. Without hesitating Bozzelli supported his request, assuming all the responsibilities for the school.
In 1980 Liberati inaugurated his 70-square-meter ceramic workshop in his father’s home; deciding that every piece would have been handmade by skilled workers, every one of them formed and specialized within the company under its careful and scrupulous guide. The demonstration of the professionalism of his workers is clearly visible from the fact that many of his co-workers opened their own activities in the following years. With the passing of the time, the bond with his master grew more and more and went far beyond the passion and vocation that they shared for ceramic: there was an extraordinary understanding between them. Bozzelli’s teaching was continuous and fundamental to both the immediate technical and human power he was able to convey. Liberati, since the beginning of his activity, decided that tradition and innovation had to harmoniously coexist, and that particular attention would be given to the study of shapes, colors and decorations, in order to give to every single object an artistic depth. Experimentation and innovation have always played a fundamental role, that became primary in his ceramic workshop, becoming an integral and fundamental part of his “business philosophy”. These aspects were noticed by Giuseppe Di Prinzio, a great artist from Pescara, a teacher and one of the founders of “G.Misticoni” high school in Pescara, whose bronze, silver and ceramic works decorate many corners of the city and beyond. One of the first meetings with the master Di Prinzio dates back to 1986, when Liberati took part in the Ceramica competition arranged by the Guardiagrele Artistic Art Exhibition Company by presenting a tea set made with the three-phase firing technique. On that occasion Di Prinzio, member of the commission, immediately noticed that the tea set was different from the others because its particular shape and accurate decoration. The commission unanimously gave the 1st Prize to Liberati pronouncing these words: “… 1st prize for the original creation of the object and the perfect technique adopted, despite the technological difficulties of the three-phase firing technique.” The competition, which is still biennial, was won by Liberati’s company in two other editions: in 1988 and 1990.
In 1992, however, the theme of the competition was a coffee set and Liberati chose to not take part in the competition but created the set he showed during the exhibition anyway. However, the Commission considered the sets presented for the competition not worthy of the prize and proposed to the Exhibition Organization to purchase the coffee set from Liberati’s company, because of its high technical and artistic depth. In subsequent competitions, Liberati decided not to participate anymore, as he won several editions, but with great satisfaction he saw some of his students winning the same prize. The proof of the relationship between Di Prinzio and Liberati is clearly visible from the frequency of Bozzelli and Enrico Terribili’s (born in Rome but of adopted by Pescara, great goldsmith and teacher at the artistic high school in Pescara) visits to Liberati’s workshop.
In 1995, Di Prinzio performed his last great work in Piazza della Marina: an imperial travertine monument with a ceramic panel at the base, entirely made in Liberati’s workshop which, as he said, he fully trusted. Bozzelli and Prinzio always admired Liberati’s overture to everyone wanted to approach this craft. Liberati has always offered them the opportunity to practice, free of charge, in his workshop, even knowing their intentions to open their own businesses. To confirm this, we can surely say that it is thanks to his openness if Rapino, who boasted a glorious past in ceramics, came up with new craft workshops after years of decadence. Liberati has never worried about the production of the other ceramists because, as he says, “the beauty of this craft is that there is no limit to creativity and it is possible to diversify production even within the same company”. With the new millennium, Liberati launches a new production cycle, beginning to put into practice everything he experienced in the past. The new production of unique pieces achieves the approval of critics and enthusiasts, so much so that in 2006 the Abruzzo Region organizes a dedicated Personal Show in the Emiciclo Palace of L’Aquila. The event gained great success and, on that occasion, his master Bozzelli symbolically passed the “scepter” with this sentence: “Now I can say that you surpassed me”.
There have been many occasions in which Liberati’s firm has been called to represent Abruzzo’s ceramics. On the occasion of the Italian Quality Champion Fair organized in 2007 and 2009 in Milan, Chieti’s Chamber of Commerce was invited to attend and represent Abruzzo’s innovative ceramics. In 2011, Abruzzo Sviluppo, partner of the Abruzzo Region, joined an European project aimed at enhancing the art ceramic sector. On this occasion, Liberati was chosen among the ceramists of Abruzzo for the remarkable technical and artistic innovation of his works, with a great success also abroad: Portugal, Hungary, Romania and France. To confirm the positive result of this last project there is the participation, in the same year, as a guest of honor at the “Annual ArteloR” Contemporary Art Exhibition organized in Romania in the town of Baia a Mare. The latest exhibition in chronological order to which he was invited is the Sulmona Prize – International Art Exhibition of Contemporary Art, at the 41st edition, organized by the Cultural Association of Quadrivio di Sulmona, which Honorary Chairman is Vittorio Sgarbi. As he writes about this exhibition: “In a year in which the Venice Biennale is not planned, the Sulmona Prize takes the role of a non-provincial outlet and showcase of artists who feel closer and closer to the spaces in which they can express their research.”
Today, after over 30 years since the beginning of the business, his children who have always “breathed” ceramics are entering into the family business, dividing themselves between production and administration. They’re aware of having a great responsibility and to have chosen a kind of trade that is not easy, especially in this historical period, but above all because, even unwillingly, they will always have to deal with their father. His children, despite the young age, try to give a personal footprint to their work with which they are starting to join exhibitions and competitions, gaining appreciation not only by the audience but also by the critics, considering the awards and mentions received. Who meets the Master Giuseppe Liberati can still see in his eyes the enthusiasm, the grit and the willpower of the beginning. And step by step, with the support of his wife Assunta, who has always stand next to him in the business and with their children, he has transformed the “small shop” into a great reality, a highly professional ceramic workshop able to represent the excellence of Abruzzo ceramics in the world.
