FuoriSalone 2023: the craftsmen on display

Mother-of-Pearl Tables

Triennale, viale Alemagna 6

For lovers of the extremely refined Korean approach, another event not to be missed is Mother-of-Pearl Tables, the exhibition at the Triennale which investigates the aesthetic sense of applied Korean craftsmanship to industrial logics and contemporary contexts with a view to dissemination.

The exhibition, in collaboration with the Duson Gallery Seoul, presents the mother-of-pearl tables, a symbolic material of oriental culture, designed by Alessandro Mendini, Elena Salmistraro, Marcel Wanders, Marco Zanuso Jr, Stefano Giovannoni and Younghee Cha.

The objects are made by Deokgun Jang and Gyesoon Kang, master craftsmen who work in the Tongyeong region, one of the best known for the production and mother-of-pearl processing.

Loewe Chairs

Palazzo Isimbardi, corso Monforte 35

Always a promoter of skilful manual work, Loewe, the Spanish luxury fashion house, presents Loewe Chairs, chairs for everyday use transformed into unique pieces by skilled master craftsmen.

Antique or newly produced seats, embellished and reinvented with woven leather, raffia, metal fibers, up to felt and the impalpable and iridescent foil of thermal blankets.

An initiative that celebrates artisans, and at the same time suggests a creative reuse to transform what you have into something original, without always having to buy new objects.

The Syntax of making

Fornasetti showroom, corso Venezia 21/A

Fornasetti recounts his unique savoir-fair in The Syntax of making, at the Corso Venezia showroom. For the occasion, it will be possible to admire the painters of the atelier as they decorate the furnishings, in particular the new collections of the maison.

Ars metallica (embargo on Monday 17, the preview is from 10 to 16)

Palazzo Borromeo d'Adda, via Manzoni 41

In the evocative spaces of Palazzo Borromeo d'Adda, Alessi presents Ars metallica, metal objects and furnishings designed by famous artists and designers.

"Metalworking is at the origin of the Alessi workshop", says Alberto Alessi, president of the family business. “And specifically, the ancient metal cold pressing process, a specialty of Omegna, the city where we have always been based; here there is a tradition of metal working, especially for the production of household items.

In recent decades, Alessi has explored various other materials such as wood, glass and plastic, so I thought it was time to remind us that we are what I call 'metalheads' deep down. Hence the exhibition: Ars metallica”.

Among the objects on display are Poêle, the new collection of furnishings by Philippe Starck, made with the same method used to produce frying pans; Conversational Objects, a set of cutlery by Virgil Abloh in stainless steel with a matte finish, completed by a cutlery tray and a candlestick inspired by the Alessi industrial workshop; and Useless Object, an unpublished art multiple designed by Salvador Dalí in 1971, preserved in the Alessi archives and made from a single folded steel plate.

Furthermore, Alberto Alessi, with the art director Giulio Iacchetti, asked a group of nine contemporary designers - Giulio Iacchetti himself, plus Andrea Branzi, Federico Angi, Michael Anastassiades, Michele De Lucchi, Naoto Fukasawa, Nika Zupanc, Paolo Ulian and Pierre Charpin - to use the ancient metal turning technique still existing in the Alessi factory, to create containers under the category entitled Il Tornitore Matto, a reference to the Mad Hatter of Alice in Wonderland.

“Although as a company we produce many products that are essentially containers,” explains Alberto Alessi, “I gave these designers the freedom to imagine what they wanted. Most have returned with ideas for the home, but some are closer to works of art. All the authors of the group are interested in experimenting with craftsmanship and old forms of production.

Going back to the origins is always useful to plan our future".

Teatro Zanat: the art of creation

Litta Theatre, Corso Magenta 24

Zanat stages his mastery in woodworking and in particular the carving technique, an art included in the UNESCO list of Intangible Heritage of Humanity, in Teatro Zanat: the art of creation, a representation of craftsmanship and creation.

A sensory journey imagined as a walk in the forest where the visitors will be able to hear the sound, the smell and the materiality of the wood, interact with the carvers and carpenters, and if lucky even with the designers.

“At the Litta Theater, Zanat will have the opportunity to demonstrate that the people and trees behind our products are as interesting and wonderful as our objects,” says Orhan Niksic , CEO and co-founder of the company.

Morel Milano

via Private Gradisca 18

Morel Milano, once home to a manufacturing of cotton fabrics for footwear, opens to the public during Milan Design Week 2023. A unique opportunity to breathe the atmosphere of the 1930s in an industrial site of 7 thousand square meters, not abandoned, but alive and authentic, which since 2022 has been hosting events, including dinners, team building, workshops and shootings.

An architecture told through a path linked to know-how, with an unprecedented collaboration between designers, craftsmen and gastronomes. On display, the site-specific installations of Mandalaki with Halo Expeditions, a hypnotic audio-visual experience, and the experiments of studio Macheia, works in bunho, the name of a plant and of an ancestral processing technique now on the verge of extinction.

Not to be missed A fuoco slowly, the temporary restaurant in Morel with Typography Alimentare, from 18 to 20 April, with dinners by reservation. Open to the public (upon registration) from Monday 17 to Saturday 22 April, from 2 to 7 pm.

Info and reservations: https://www.morelmilano.it/morel-dw2023/.

Arts&Crafts&Design

Palazzo Litta, corso Magenta 24

For those on the hunt for artisans at work, this is an unmissable address: Arts&Crafts&Design at Palazzo Litta of Fondazione Cologni of the crafts, in the 5Vie circuit.

Five exhibitions dedicated to the dialogue between know-how and design thinking. The protagonists are the artist and master Gianluca Pacchioni, who presents a site-specific sculpture in the spaces of the Cortile del Richini; the designer Sara Ricciardi who signs Primavera; Michelangelo Foundation, Fondazione Cologni and Living Corriere della Sera proposing the seventh edition of Doppia Firma, alongside 24 pairs of artisans and designers, including two pairs from the Artijanus/Artijanas project of the Triennale, this year formed by Gianni Cinti with Elena Mulas and Sonia Pedrazzini with Walter Usai.

Bonacina 1889 with its new collection of furnishing accessories in woven natural fibers; finally Creative Academy, the international design school of the Richemont group, under the curatorship of Eligo Studio, which pays tribute to the constellations, through the works born from the collaboration between the 20 students and the master Tonino Negri ceramist from Lodi.

Tools & Crafts

Riccardo Catella Foundation, Isola Design Festival

A new wave of craftsmen breaks into the Isola Design Festival with Tools&Crafts, at the Riccardo Catella Foundation.

On display young people who combine traditional skills with experimental techniques, from the application of artificial intelligence, coding and 3D printing to glass blowing, fusion and molding, to create contemporary and collectible design pieces.

Not to be missed: the live performances of the craftsmen at work.

The new generation craftsmen protagonists of Tools&Crafts are: Alice Crepaldi, Anna Jožová, Caspar Fischer, GUNIA Project, Haeun Kim, Joana Moura Ceramics, Kick Veldman, Lea Studios, Lebanto, MiDA-Lab, Nareg, Oodd studio, Sameo, Senzaquadro, Studio Maximilian Beck, Studio Naomi Remijn, Viktor Tabiš, Woven Memories.