This year the curatorial director is Maria Cristina Didero. Why this choice, and what is your contribution?

This aligns perfectly with the Design Miami perspective and ethos: we always seek to explore the intersections between art, design and technology, offering an international platform for innovation and knowledge.

At the heart of what we do is our ever-expanding community of gallerists, collectors and design enthusiasts.

Maria Cristina oversaw the programming to inspire this diverse audience, with an offer dedicated both to those who come to Miami for the fair and to those who participate remotely.

Her curatorial theme is an invitation for us to consider how design, in its highest expression, can be the key to unlocking a brighter future".

Fifty galleries and hundreds of very different proposals. Are trends emerging?

This year's theme The golden age: looking to the future was designed to inspire an optimistic outlook as we contemplate how design could lead the way to a more sustainable and harmonious collective future, both for people and the Planet.

Within the diversified programming that we have prepared for the Miami fair, numerous key thematic threads emerge around the macro-theme of The golden age.

There is an interesting focus on craftsmanship and tradition, with a number of galleries seeking to champion historic craftsmanship from around the world to rethink how it could help reshape our future.

What are the main novelties of this edition? And what are the galleries and events not to be missed?

"Among many highlights, we are thrilled that R&Company presents a Curio by Roberto Lugo, a Philadelphia-based artist who will transform his famous digital platform, The Village Potter, in a physical showcase.

Lugo recreates a sort of neighborhood bodega, where you can buy its most famous objects, such as the subway car-style butter dish and the tower-shaped coffee cups water, functional and purchasable pieces that reinforce the idea that art and design are for everyone.

On digital, we present our first collaboration with Bottega Veneta, with the works of Gaetano Pesce entitled Come Stai?, brightly colored resin chairs, first seen in September at the Bottega Veneta show in Milan, and now on sale on a dedicated mini-site at designmiami.com.

The Talks are back again this year, fascinating conversations with the big names in design. These events will be within everyone's reach, thanks to our digital platforms".

It is exciting to see a greater presence of women, of Bipoc (black, indigenous and colored people), and of creative internationals" at the fair , from the Lebanese designer Nada Debs who presents Transcendence for Kohler, to the Spanish Alexis Cogul of Doo Architect who contributed to the design of the Collectors Lounge.

Furthermore, Emma Scully Gallery will propose, within the Curio program, Reflecting Women, an engaging experience that supports and celebrates women in design.

Another common thread explores how the theme of the golden age interacts with the natural world: at its core is a call to reconsider how to live more sustainably with nature, a very topical theme addressed by many exhibitors.

One of the trends is the convergence of the real and the digital, both in the proposals and in the evolution of the exhibition format. Is this the future to communicate, present and conceive art and design?

This is a crucial theme that directly speaks to Design Miami's mission to be a platform hybrid, digital and physical, operating at the intersection of design and technology.

To explore this real-virtual dimension is Nilufar: the Milanese gallery will present the Afterglow collection by Audrey Large, which explores the potential of digital image manipulation when applied to 3D printing.

Harry Nuriev's proposal also straddles the real and the digital, with a Curio presenting interior designs and collectible furniture that coexist in the physical world and in the Meta universe.

Who is the Design Miami audience and what are they looking for?

We are fortunate to have such a loyal audience, made up of gallerists, collectors and design enthusiasts from around the world, along with creatives and business leaders in the fashion, home and real estate looking for inspiration.

I think everyone looks to the fair as a platform for discovery, knowledge and creative exchange.

The Curios not to be missed

Making its debut in the Curio section is Gufram, with a new special edition of Cactus, the cult object of Italian design designed in 1972 by Franco Mello and Guido Drocco, signed by a famous rapper, whose name will be revealed at the fair.

Among the confirmations, the Londoner Elisabetta Cipriani who returns to Design Miami with wearable art projects made by artists of the caliber of Ai Weiwei.

J.Lohmann Gallery in New York will intrigue audiences with Curious Creatures by Ahryun Lee and Toni Losey, inviting visitors on a fantastic journey into a surreal world formed by creative assemblages and biomorphic forms, metaphysical and eccentric presences, unexpected and amusing creations that will trace a new way of imagining and working the 'clay.

And again: Tuleste Factory of New York with Through and Through invites you to explore saturation, opacity and texture of blue, a color that the ancient Egyptians they associated with the vastness of the sky and water, with creation and fertility; Stroll Garden in Los Angeles will create an experiential and site-specific installation of specially commissioned works for Design Miami, from the architectural fountains of artist Lily Clark, to the essential wooden objects of Sara Lee Hantman and ColeyBrown, the creative team behind the Prísma brand.

Finally, Aqua Creations presents Light on water with the Lakes collection, lights that draw inspiration from the shapes of freshwater lakes, with mirror-polished metal that evokes the presence of 'water, alongside a limited edition of 30 pieces of the Morning Glory floor lamp, made with raw silk especially for this collection.

Design Miami's partners: Audi, Fendi and Maison Perrier-Jouët

Among the numerous partner projects, there are two great confirmations of Design Miami: Fendi and Maison Perrier-Jouët.

Fendi invites the Viennese artist Lukas Gschwandtner to create Triclinium, wearable canvas sculptures that reference the historical portraits of women reclining on tricliniums, a clear tribute to Rome, the eternal city where Fendi was born.

Maison Perrier-Jouët instead participates with the Parisian artist Garance Vallée author of Planted Air, a path with organic shapes which communicates a symbiotic vision of nature in which all forms of life are united, to the point of forming a single entity.

Among the partners of the event there is also Dolce&Gabbana: the maison, in its debut at Design Miami, presents the new themes of the Home Collection, and does so by transforming the three floors of the imposing Luxury Living Group store with a special takeover, its partner present in the heart of the Design District. The motifs, which join the already existing Carretto Siciliano, Blu Mediterraneo, Leopardo and Zebra, are: DG Logo, a graphic pattern with the initials of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana to celebrate the history and identity of the brand, and the sparkling 24k gold that pays homage to the opulence of the Baroque.

One of the most awaited names is certainly the digital artist Andrés Reisinger, originally from Buenos Aires but based in Barcelona, ​​famous - and also much criticized - for his non-existent furniture, or rather existing ones are in the virtual world, sold online in staggering numbers.

On the occasion of Design Miami, the artist will present a new immersive installation with Audi, a surreal and free environment that blurs the boundaries between reality and fiction, where Reisinger restores comfort, relaxation and entertainment that distinguish the Audi grandsphere concept car.

The artist will also be the protagonist of Miami Art Week with the site-specific installation Pink Meditation Buoys at Faena Beach: pink iridescent lighthouses visible from the beach will shed light on the cliff, focusing the spotlight on the delicate marine context.

A project curated by Ximena Camino as part of the public and cultural initiative Reefline for the non-profit organization of the same name, which also includes collective guided meditations on the well-being of the ecosystem: "We often forget to stop, observe and reflect, to reconnect with our thoughts and those of the world, to give direction and order to our chaos, train our minds and tune them with those of others, create a space for welcome the energy and channel it towards the desired result.

Hence the Pink Meditation Buoys, a physical invitation to join our strengths to help the ecosystem and, in turn, ourselves", says Andrés Reisinger .

Outside the fair: Venini with the artist Amanda Valle

Venini takes part in the design&art week in Miami and presents the work Pentaura by Amanda Valle, a Dominican artist born in 1984, at the Gary Nader Gallery.

A fluid and moving sculpture, where the Murano glass merges with the sodalite mineral and is shaped following the emotions and inspiration of the creative from Santo Domingo.

The work, produced by Venini in collaboration with Brumance, takes shape from the pictorial series Human Encounters by Amanda Valle, in which the creative imagines a world populated by fictitious characters who tell the story of her emotional emancipation.