Tecnargilla 2002 will highlight new products and new ideas for ceramic manufacturing.

On October 1, Tecnargilla will open its doors to exhibitors and visitors at the new Rimini exhibition center. Over the next five days, the exhibition will provide a key forum for suppliers of machinery, raw materials, equipment and services to meet manufacturers of tiles, sanitaryware, tableware, ceramic collectibles and giftware, bricks and roof tiles, refractory materials and advanced ceramics.

Products on Display

About 500 stands will represent all type of products and services. They will occupy a total area of 861,000 square feet—14.2% more than the exhibition area occupied at the last show held in 1999. Of the 12 exhibition halls, eight will be devoted to tile, sanitaryware, tableware and refractory manufacturing technologies; and two will showcase heavy clay machinery.

The remaining two halls will be reserved for Kromatech, a new 129,000-square-foot area devoted entirely to all aspects of color, creativity and aesthetic quality. The show will feature companies that play an important role in defining ceramic product innovations (color and glaze manufacturers, third fire decorators, graphic and artistic consulting studios, screen printing laboratories and suppliers of printing screens). It will also offer a preview of new tile proposals designed by the companies’ research centers.

Although the number of foreign ceramic industry suppliers is smaller than that of Italian companies taking part in Tecnargilla and has fallen in recent years, more than 80 exhibition stands will be occupied by foreign companies from 15 countries, accounting for 16.6% of exhibitors. An additional 125 foreign companies will be hosted within other exhibitors’ stands. The best-represented foreign countries will be Spain, which has organized a joint pavilion in cooperation with the Spanish Foreign Trade Commission (ICEX), and Germany, both of which will have about 30 exhibitors.

The event is expected to draw an attendance equal to, if not higher than, the 27,700 professionals who registered at the last show in 1999. Given the joint scheduling of Tecnargilla and Cersaie, the exhibition of building ceramic and bathroom furnishings that will be held in Bologna October 1-6, Tecnargilla has organized a free shuttle bus service that will run several times daily between the two exhibition centers to make it easier for visitors to attend both events.

Ancillary Events

Ceramic Workshop. Of all the ancillary initiatives organized at Tecnargilla this year, the key event will be the Ceramic Workshop, a 27,000-square-foot exhibit at the entrance to the exhibition center. Leading players in art, design and technological research will interpret ceramics in six different theme areas, offering creative stimuli and challenging new ideas for the people responsible for designing the ceramic materials of the future.

Technical Conferences and Seminars. Several technical events will also be held at Tecnargilla, including “The 2nd Ceramic Technology Transfer Day (TTD) on Ceramic Materials, Processes and Plants” (organized by Acimac and ISTEC-CNR), which will begin on Tuesday, October 2.

On Friday, October 4, two additional events will be held: the Italian Ceramic Society conference on raw materials and clay preparation technologies, and “IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control): A Challenge for the Industry,” a conference organized by Andil-Assolaterizi.

For More Information

For more information about Tecnargilla 2002, contact RiminiFiera, (39) 0541-744111, fax (39) 0541-744243, e-mail g.degirolamo@fierarimini.it; or S.A.L.A. srl, (39) 059-827780, fax (39) 059-827319, e-mail promo@sala-service.it. Additional information can also be found online at http://www.tecnargilla.com.