Poznań, December 2014
STONE 2014 Stone Industry Fair – Summary
More than five thousand visitors (exactly 5010 people) from Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia, Italy, the
Kaliningrad Region, Lithuania, Germany, but also Slovakia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Spain, Hungary,
Belarus and Portugal visited STONE Stone Industry Fair, Memento and Sakralia held 26-29 November 2014 in
Poznań.
On the area of 5000 m2, 110 exhibitors from Poland and ten other countries, including India, Italy, China and
South Africa, presented their offers for the stone industry. The modern fair infrastructure featured the market
leaders' perfect stands, including Breton, Emmaboda Granit AB, Euro-Granit Adamus, Finnstone, F.S.E., Guzdek,
Inbra Polska, Interstone, JP Granit, Mach Plus, MC Diam, Mekanika, MP Steneko, Promasz, TGR, Tiera
Naturalstones and Weha.
Here is their feedback concerning the STONE fair. Andrzej Bukalski, MC Diam Management Board Vice President,
said frankly "for us, the fair is the most important event in Poland". The view was shared by Tomasz Staniszewski
(Inbra Poland) who said that "it is the best party in the stone industry, which allows us to display our stones, and
meet our customers". And Rajmund Borkowski (MP Steneko) stressed that Poznań is a good place for fairs, for they
are organised professionally, and they have a special climate. The fair visitors praised the modern infrastructure
and comfortable conditions, and above all, the opportunity to see many masonry machines in motion. Also,
representatives of the Czech stone industry association Czech Stone Cluster and professional visitors from the
Kaliningrad Region, who visit the STONE fair regularly, stressed that the fair proved to be very fruitful for them.
Even the biggest malcontents had to admit that the trade fair exhibition looked impressive. MAGEMAR POLSKA,
INBRA POLSKA, MP STENEKO together with EURO-GRANIT ADAMUS and JP Granit have been awarded for the
finest stand in line with their marketing strategy. And what could you see at the stands?
First of all, the stone processing machines in motion, natural stone from around the world or tools and equipment
designed for stonemasons as well as product novelties. For the first time the TEST ZONE was available, which was a
place where masons could test tools and equipment for stone processing such as a 3D scanner or WaterJet
Intermac PRIMUS, and check the properties of waxed concrete.
Also, another edition of the "Sanding Master" competition organised by ABRA company and "Swiat Kamienia"
magazine (Stone World) was held. The competition task was the fastest and highest quality tombstone
sandblasting and it was best done by Krzysztof Parol from EFFECT.
There were more new initiatives. For the first time, workshops for architecture students and young designers "Young
Designer Workshop: Stone" were held. They were co-organised by the editors of "Nowy Kamieniarz" magazine.
Students could participate in lectures given by Polish and foreign specialists in the creative use of stone in
architectural projects. They also could get advice from the STONE fair exhibitors on the structure of stone and various
techniques of its processing, and then use the knowledge to design a stonework in one of three categories they could
choose: worktop, open or gadget. In total, the participants presented 36 projects, and six of them were selected by
the competition jury to be processed further. The best ones included: cutting board, decorative tile, stone chess,
umbrella stand, organiser for hotels and educational toys for the blind children - The Touchy Beans.
Prototypes of the winning works will be displayed at Stone+tec in Nuremberg in March next year. The organisers
believe that the overall objective of the project - presenting possibilities offered by natural stone to future architects
and designers - has been fully achieved! The whole project was also used for exchanging experiences between
designers and representatives of the stone industry.
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Other educational opportunities were also present at the STONE fair. Trainings and consultations prepared in
cooperation with the Wielkopolska Agency for Enterprise Development were very popular among the visitors. The
lecture hall attracted the entrepreneurs who wanted to know how they could benefit from the EU funds for the 20142020 period and what other support is offered under the JEREMIE initiative.
Also, a unique mosaic bench in the shape of PIF logo was created during the four days of the fair. The creator was
Lubosz Karwat, who with the help of visitors, residents of Poznań and employees of Poznań International Fair,
arranged the stone mosaic in the frames which he had prepared earlier. This unique logo weighs about 400 kg. The
maker of the bench used 100 kg of adhesive and 12 square metres of stone tiles.Now the bench is a decorative
element of PIF fairgrounds.
Also, the "GRANIT exhibition" was held during the fair - the crowning of the open air organized in the area of the
mine and stone processing plant of Globgranit. The photos were taken by a group of nine photographers from
Wielkopolska who under the initiative of FOTSPOT created the photographic material for the exhibition. After a
thorough selection of pictures, under the watchful eye of the curator of the competition, Dr. Sławomir Tobis, PhD, 22
photographs were chosen.
The fair was held under the honorary patronage of the Ministry of Economy and the industrial patronage of the
Employers' Association of Stone Industry.
The next edition of STONE will be held 18-21 November 2015 in Poznań.
Media contact:
Marta Radowska-Karpińska,
marta.radowska@mtp.pl, tel. +48/ 61 869 26 34
www.STONE.mtp.pl
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