Around the world in four exhibitions
Design Italiano: La bellezza del quotidiano fra Italia e Argentina, photo Enrico Fantoni
From Shanghai to The Hague and Brussels to Buenos Aires: four unmissable events
Amongst the countless winter design and architecture events at global level, the following four exceptional exhibitions are well worth a visit.
In Shanghai, Michael Wang’s exhibition Lake Tai, supported by Fondazione Prada, will be open to the public until 8th January 2023 at Prada Rong Zhai, the historic residence built in 1918 and restored by Prada. A series of sculptures and installations displayed on the first floor and in the garden of Prada Rong Zhai were created with a view to exploring the relationship between man and nature at a time of sweeping environmental change and rehabilitation projects.
This exhibition, and the Taihu (Stones) series in particular, was informed by research carried out in collaboration with students from Tongji University in Shanghai who worked with the artist in exploring the site, collecting materials and producing the works. As his raw materials, Wang uses algae, cellulose and chitin obtained from local rivers. Among the various works, Taihu (Crab), for instance, represents a fishing boat packed with replicas of hairy crabs, made from algae filtered by the water. These works reinvent the Chinese traditions modified by the powerful rehabilitation measures that have transformed the lake and the river over the last few years.
Where: Prada Rong Zhai, Shanghai
When: from 10th November 2022 to 8th January 2023
Curator: Fondazione Prada
Prada Rong Zhai, Lake Tai exhibition, Vessel 1 (preparatory study), Michael Wang, 2022. From the series "Artifacts (Yixing clay)", courtesy the artist
Aldo Bakker-Pouring Vessels is a collection of works by Aldo Bakker on display until 7th May 2023 at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag, curated in collaboration with Jan de Bruijn. The bizarre objects by the renowned Dutch designer blur the lines between art and design.
In the artist’s hands, everyday utensils such as furniture, pouring vessels and sculptures, take on new and surprising forms. In this context, the Dutch neologism schenkers, which means both pouring and giving, is used. The noun schenker, on the other hand, refers only to a person who gives, not to a vessel that pours, but since pouring is also giving, this is a reminder that the term does not only apply to vessels that pour but also to objects that take on new conformations. Each receptacle creates a different sensory experience when used. Although the objects are designed to respond to functional criteria, the artist’s designs stimulate the viewer’s powers of imagination, and thus each vessel represents a new emotion, a new fantasy.
Where: Kunstmuseum, The Hague
When: from 22nd October 2022 to 7th May 2023
Curator: Jan de Bruijn
Soy Pourer, Aldo Bakker, 2010. Production Jan Matthesius, courtesy Thomas Eyck
The exhibition On Display. Designing the Shop Experience, which runs until 5th 2023 at the Design Museum Brussels, tells the history of the concept of the shop, an object of design and architecture, a modern expression that straddles shopping experience and laboratory of innovation.
The shop concept plays a central role in our urban landscape, permeating popular culture, and played a significant role in the diffusion of interior design trends during the 20th century. The boutique of yesterday and today becomes a genuine test bench for designers and architects: from the early work of Adolf Loos to the creations of Marc Newson, by way of René Herbst and Ettore Sottsass to the legendary Olivetti stores. Through the exhibition curated by Benjamin Stoz, the Design Museum Brussels continues its exploration of the fields of design creation and its impact on our society.
Where: Design Museum, Brussels
When: from 14th October 2022 to 5th March 2023
Curator: Benjamin Stoz
“On Display. Designing the shop experience”, Design Museum, Brussels
Fron of the Bubble Shop, 1969, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris. Christian Girard (1926-2008) © Nicolas Girard
Work by leading designers such as Gio Ponti, Ettore Sottsass, Vico Magistretti, Bruno Munari and Gaetano Pesce is on show in the exhibition Design Italiano. La Bellezza del Quotidiano fra Italia e Argentina (Italian Design. The Beauty of Everyday Life in Italy and Argentina). The exhibition, which is supported by the Italian Cultural Institute of Buenos Aires, runs at the National Museum of Decorative Art in Buenos Aires until 23rd January 2023.
Some of the most significant objects from the post-war period to the present day are featured, designed to bear witness to the quality of the particular research and experimentation undertaken by Italian designers and companies. This unmissable overview takes us from Gae Aulenti’s Pipistrello lamp to Alessandro Mendini’s Proust armchair and the Napoletana coffee maker designed by Riccardo Dalisi for Alessi, while the exhibition catalogue takes us through the history of an Italian path to modernity, in book form.
Where: Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo, Buenos Aires
When: : from 23rd September 2022 to 23rd January 2023
Curator: Silvana Annicchiarico
Design Italiano: La bellezza del quotidiano fra Italia e Argentina, photo Enrico Fantoni
