Gaya Ceramic was established by Marcello Massoni and Michela Foppiani. They moved from Italy to Bali in 2001 due to a lucky encounter with an entrepreneur from Bologna who asked them to come to the island. Starting from a small studio with the help of the landlord’s son, the husband and wife, the entrepreneur started doing custom projects for a small restaurant and then a hotel. The business grew, and now Gaya Ceramic is an international company based in Bali that exports to China, the U.S., Europe, South America, and South Africa.
STORYBY Iman Hidajat | PHOTO BY IDD
Gaya’s design inspiration comes from a variety of things. It can be from nature, a piece of stone found on the road, or a coral found on the beach. “We don’t have a specific line of inspiration, but we like to be inspired by almost everything,” added Marcello. Gaya’s collection is not very specific. It is a diverse collection within one collection.
Marcello also notes that he likes an organic design shape as much as a minimalist one. “We don’t like to be categorised within a specific aesthetic. “We have 15th-century Japanese ceramic technique, 16th-century Korean glaze, and very modern designs,” Marcello conveyed.
Every time Gaya creates something they produce, there are always leftovers. “And, when you produce in the scale we are producing, we do have lots of rejects, and for custom projects, we cannot sell those extras because they are made exclusively for our clients,” said Marcello. Interestingly, from those leftovers, they can create artworks, like sculptures or installations.
“We want to reduce the waste and to close a circle,” Marcello explained—a double creative effort to reinvent something new and beautiful from the production wastes.
Opening Gaya’s first showroom at Indonesia Design District, Marcello mentioned using thousands of ceramic bowls that Gaya did daily to test the colours and glazes. “We sort of invented three-dimensional wallpaper, which we sell as a modular wall installation,” he explained.
Gaya is evolving into something better in project and customer service. Marcello also said that he is improving the company in terms of organization, production method, research, and development. In terms of the collection in IDD, he revealed that Gaya’s collection is constantly evolving and will introduce a couple of new ranges each year.
GAYA CERAMIC
Indonesia Design District
Jl. M.H. Thamrin Unit S6 & S7 Tangerang, Banten 15214
T. +6285925813673
E. jkt@gayaceramic.com
IG. @gaya.ceramic