Thank you to:

Artevento
One of the most important organizations in kiting today

Cervia 2008

Formed in 1981, Artevento now organizes several of the most art-driven kite festivals in the world. Their premier festival is one of the longest-running kite festivals in Europe. Festival Internazionale dell'Aquilone, or the International Festival of Kites in Cervia, Italy.

Claudio Capelli, and his daughter Caterina Capelli are the soul of Artevento. Year after year, they overcome impossible odds to make these beautiful events happen.

 

The Artevento International Kite Festival, held in Cervia, Italy is one of the most famous kite artist gatherings in the world. Each year, the festival brings the most spectacular wind art from five continents. There the artists express their creativity and magically transform the sky.

Our personal experience with Artevento has touched our work immeasurably and in ways that we could have never predicted. To be invited in 2007 was a tremendous honor for us. We already knew many of our closest friends in kiting from other events many years ago, but many of them we really met at Cervia. The huge difference in this festival which we saw immediately was that the organizers of the Cervia kite festival are also artists!

When we arrived, we saw within minutes that this was the kite festival we always knew could exist. No other festival better understands that the event needs to be a fertile ground for seeding improvisation. Gone is the strict scheduling and arbitrary division. Instead, the deep-seated exhibitionism of who we are as a kite community is supported and encouraged with sophisticated and experienced organization. Day after day the sky is painted, and painted again. Artevento's faith in all of us is aparent in everything they do.

Artevento inspired a natural shift in our focus here at WindFire Designs. We have always been kite artists, but now we have a venue to show our work to our peers. As it had always felt unnatural, we stopped designing our kites into products that tried to acheive a price point. Instead, we just decided to spare no effort or expense and simply to do great kite art and see where it takes us. This shift in ideals has allowed us to do some of our best work to date.

This page is a thank you letter that will evolve with the years to come.

Below are some galleries and some photos. It seems as I write this that nothing will quite do this justice. Please enjoy, and please follow every link on this page—you won't regret it.

Images from Imagin'aria #1 - Venezia Lido May 2011