Last event confirmed the International Koinè Fair as playing a key role in renewal and inspiration for the religious industry and a unique training resource for its players.
Dates: 12-15 march 2011
Venue: Vicenza Fairgrounds, North East of Italy

Number of exhibitors: 320, 80% Italian, 20% international
The world's premier international Fair for church supply, liturgical and ecclesiastical art featured the largest showcase of products and services for the church and the worldwide distribution network.

Number of professional visitors (trade and clergy): 13.000 on 4 days of event.
The long awaited biennial fair attracted points of sale and clergy from all over Europe, including architects, liturgists, art collectors, and dealers from Americas, Africa, Far East and Oceania.

A perfect combination between business and training resources
Koinè 2011 was a source of excellent business and presented a perfect blend between a commercial event and a conference-exhibition on post Vatican II research of contemporary languages in liturgical design. “In the event’s 22-year history the equilibrium between trade event and unique training resource for the industry has been reached”- says Mons. Arch. Giancarlo Santi, president of the Scientific Committee Koinè.

       

THE KOINÈ RESEARCH AREA

Organized under the patronage of the Italian Bishop Conference, it has been the unique key success of the Fair and its conferences since 1989.
The concept based on the unique formula that enables liturgists, architects, designers, clergy to meet with the manufacturers, to debate on new trends and to understand the needs of the 3rd Millennium Church continues with training resources for the Koinè community.

Launch of the “bible for liturgical design”
The first day of exhibition hosted the launch of the book “Koinè 1989 – 2009. The design for liturgy: materials and projects”, a one-of-a-kind collection-catalogue both for the scientific rigor and for the broad range of themes tackled according to the guidelines provided by the II Vatican Council. The book includes projects and prototypes of liturgical furniture, liturgical objects designed by important architects and designers, such as Gabetti and Isola, Luigi Caccia Dominioni, Angelo Mangiarotti, Giancarlo Piretti, Tobia Scarpa, Michele De Lucchi and a wide section dedicated to liturgical garments, presented at the Koinè shows throughout the 20 year of Koinè Research. A milestone in the design for liturgy, published by Edizioni Messaggero Padova.

Liturgical design exhibitions: the Chasuble
An impressive exhibition hosted in the Hall G of the Vicenza Fair presented a colorful selection of Chasubles within European production scenarios, carrying out an analysis of the stances derived from Vatican Council II interpreted nowadays through contemporary manufacture.
The selection of the Chasuble took into account the simplicity of the shape, the originality in the aesthetic research and the adoption of a balanced expressive set.

Liturgical design exhibitions: the Priest's Stole - textile art for christian celebration
A showcase of the winners’ contest thrown by Koinè to foremost Italian textile artists. The aim of the competition was to obtain an innovative contribution, both for the decoration and for the distinctiveness of the fabrics used in realizing the priestly stole, the distinguishing mark of priests during liturgical celebrations.

Liturgical design exhibitions: DeiSign – Projects and prototypes of chalices and patens
This exhibit displayed, as a prime preview, awarded prototypes and a selection, made by Koinè, of the best projects presented at the 2010 “DeiSign” competition. Over 300 designers, architects and design schools took part in this competition, organized by the Saint Michael's Onlus Foundation and the Diocese of Cuneo, with the aim of re-examining and renewing liturgical objects.

THE GOOD TERMS OF BUSINESS

A total of 13,000 visitors got the full information on innovations in products and services for the Church and the supply chain. The mood in the halls has been quite as exuberant, the contacts forged by companies abundant and the volume of orders placed reported as high.

Exhibitors reported closing very good deals that exceeded even the already optimistic expectations in the run-up to Koinè, as well as forging many highly promising contacts that signal lucrative post-fair business. As a result, 90 percent of the participating companies have already indicated their intention to exhibit at the next Koinè in two years’ time.

The exceptional atmosphere in the halls was not only felt in the air but could also be seen: numerous stands frequently seemed packed to capacity. For their part, the exhibitors could be heard again and again praising the international mix of visitors and their extensive decision-making powers. Koinè 2011 succeeded in making gains in both of these areas. 60 percent of visitors were experts with the authority to make decisions on their company’s behalf, 30 per cent were reputed representatives from religious institutions. The proportion of visitors attending from outside Italy increased to 30 percent. Altogether, 53 countries were represented. Attendees arriving from European countries were in the majority but those from North and South America and Far East made their presence strongly felt.