web analytics

Moscow Design Week 2011: Made in Italy (Curated by Giulio Cappellini)

Moscow Design Week 2011 - Made in Italy 10 What I definitely liked about this year’s Moscow Design Week is its higher class. Last year’s MDW was a first attempt, clearly done with a bit of scepticism towards its own necessity. The quality of English translation of booklets, the infrastructure of events, venues and displays – all was done for the purpose of actually doing it.

I wasn’t sceptical about MDW’s future, but I was wondering how they were going to improve. The improvement came by almost secretly, I’m sure some people didn’t even realise the Design Week was going to happen. It did happen though and amassed such a huge number of high caliber designers from Europe and America that we are already feeling hungry for more. This is exactly what a girl at the Central Artist’s House said in response to my question, whether or not she enjoyed the Week: “I would love to see more“.

Moscow Design Week 2011 - Made in Italy 13Moscow Design Week 2011 - Made in Italy 25

2011 being a cross-cultural year between Russia and Italy, it probably made sense to bring the leading Italian designers to Moscow and to dedicate one of the major exhibitions to all things “made in Italy”. This is also a curious reference to last year’s Design Week when visitors were invited to the Manezh Exhibition Centre to explore ‘the French art of living’. This year it was the same “art de vivre” – but Italian style.

Compared to the Italian, the French “art de vivre” looks almost too classical. Although the French played with matryoshkas and Eiffel towers in their own way, the Matrioska Superhero by Jacopo Foggini, or a classical chair painted in rainbow colours by Giulio Cappellini both breathe new life into familiar, if not dull, objects.

Being a Fabio Novembre Chair 1
Being a Fabio Novembre Chair

Needless to say, such irreverence to classical things inspires, provokes and prompts. It’s not been the first time ever that I saw and sat down into a Fabio Novembre chair. However, it’s been the first time I realised that the entire experience of sitting in this chair reeks on the plot of the famous film, Being John Malkovich. I called my ‘exploits’ with it rather simply: “Being a Fabio November Chair“.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=107931

Italy in Arts: Charles Aznavour – How Sad Venice Can Be

2011 is the cross-cultural year between Russia and the two European countries of Italy and Spain. So, on Los Cuadernos de Julia I have already started to share insights into representation of Italy in Russian painting, and there will be more on Spain, and hopefully I am also able to show how Russia and Russians were seen by both Italians and Spaniards.

However, I also decided to extend the representation of Italy and Spain beyond Russia, so the first example actually comes from the singer who has been living in France and is primarily known as a French performer, but who is loved and well-famous in Russia. Charles Aznavour, How Sad Venice Can Be.

Siena – Into the Brick


Siena, originally uploaded by Esti Solana.

I love walking in the streets like this one in the Italian Siena: only houses, almost typical, not a tree in sight, the sloppy street clearly not rising up to the demands of the time. It would be so easy to lose yourself in a street like this, and instead of finding the way back one would continue walking… until the streets that always round and wind would, as if by miracle, take the pilgrim back to where the journey started.

error: Sorry, no copying !!