At the end of June 2025, in the historic center of Vicopisano, Vicode emerged for the first time from the digital space to truly meet people.
Paths of Art & Flavors was born as a simple evening: a selection of objects and artworks, three artists working live, and the wines and cuisine of Enoteca 88. Around it, the village walls, the evening lights, and an audience who came to observe, talk, and share.
It was Vicode's first event and, above all, the first opportunity to see the project inhabited by people.
The photographs in the article depict the evening and our setup in the village of Vicopisano.
The evening in brief
Scene one: the village fills up
The setup took shape amidst the stone walls and streets of the historic center. Tables, small plinths, and essential supports displayed ceramics, sculptures, artworks, and objects collected during our travels.
We didn't want to recreate a normal exhibition space. The objects had to become part of the village landscape, to be observed closely, touched, and spoken about without the distance of a display case.
As the hours passed, friends, customers, curious onlookers, and people who only knew Vicode through the website and social media arrived. Matteo Ferrucci and Michele Marroni shared a few words with us, helping to give the evening an even stronger connection to the Vicopisano community.
The place
A medieval village used not just as a backdrop, but as an integral part of the setup.
The people
Friends, new acquaintances, and visitors finally gathered in the same space, off-screen.
The objects
Ceramics, artworks, and accessories presented alongside the stories of the places and authors they came from.
Scene two: art takes shape live
The highlight of the evening was the work of Esteban, Massimiliano Precisi, and Uodi. The three artists didn't just exhibit finished works: they worked in front of the public, showing their timing, gestures, reconsiderations, and transformations.
The live painting altered the relationship between artist and visitor. People stopped, watched the construction of the images, asked questions, and returned multiple times to see how the work was changing.
It was a very different situation from a traditional exhibition. The work was not yet a definitive result, but a visible and shared process.
What we remember
The silence that formed around the artists, people following a brushstroke, and conversations spontaneously arising in front of the artworks.
Scene three: art and flavors at the same table
Enoteca 88 accompanied the event with a selection of wines, a curated aperitif, and dinner served within the illuminated walls of the village.
Food was not a separate element of the project. It contributed to the rhythm of the evening: people moved from the artworks to the tables, from a conversation to a tasting, without any clear division between exhibition and conviviality.
It was precisely this continuity that gave meaning to the name Paths of Art & Flavors. Not an exhibition accompanied by dinner, but an experience in which art, objects, wine, and relationships occupied the same space.
Scene four: objects meet people
For the first time, we could directly observe how people approached the Vicode selection. Some recognized objects they had seen online; others discovered them for the first time, asking us for information about their craftsmanship, dimensions, and origin.
Many pieces were chosen during the evening and found a new home. But the most important aspect was not just commercial: we saw that the research behind Vicode was understood.
People did not observe the objects as isolated products. They were interested in the authors, the places of origin, the artisanal techniques, and the stories that accompanied each piece.
To see
To observe materials, proportions, and surfaces that a photograph cannot always convey.
To know
To discover who made an object, where it originated, and why it became part of the Vicode selection.
To choose
To take a piece home after encountering it, observing it, and listening to its story.
The moment Vicode became a real space
Vicode was launched online almost a year before. The first event in Vicopisano allowed us to confirm that the project could also thrive outside the website: in a physical space, among people, and within a territory to which we are deeply connected.
We had not simply opened a temporary exhibition. We had built, even if only for one evening, a place where art, craftsmanship, design, and hospitality could meet.
The first step
That evening, we didn't just present a selection of objects. We showed how we envision Vicode: a project built on research, encounters, authors, and places to connect.
Thanks to those who built the evening with us
We thank Esteban, Massimiliano Precisi, and Uodi for sharing their work in front of the public; Enoteca 88 for their hospitality, cuisine, and the care with which they accompanied every moment; Matteo Ferrucci and Michele Marroni for their presence.
Thanks to friends, guests, and all the people who stopped to observe, listen, ask, and choose.
The first Vicode event gave us enthusiasm and new energy. From that moment, we understood that the project should not remain only online, but continue to create real opportunities for encounters.
The history, travels, and ideas that gave rise to the project are recounted on the About Us page.
To explore the objects, artworks, and ceramics that make up our current collection, visit the Vicode collections.
Vicopisano · June 2025
The first evening Vicode stopped being just a website and became a shared place.
Elena & Lorenzo — Vicode
