#Salone - Doppia Firma 2023
Every year during Salone del Mobile, the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship is unveiling a new edition of Doppia Firma, a concept enhancing the value of craftsmanship and design.
For its seventh edition, Doppia Firma, conceived by Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte will showcase 24 creative partnerships. The project is a dialogue between design and artisanal excellence.
Doppia Firma spotlights the alliance between design innovation and the tradition of great master artisans not only from Europe, but for the first time also from other continents, such as Asia (with a project crafted in Pakistan) and Latin America (with the works of Colombian artisans), in order to generate a creative partnership between a designer/artist and an artisan, or a manufacturer of excellence. These one-of-a- kind objects are born from the cross- fertilisation between a design culture and a savoir-faire that is an authentic expression of its region of origin.
The underlying theme of playfulness encourages creativity to unfold with expressive freedom. It has always been represented in contemporary and applied arts. In fact, the concept embraces playfulness and humour, irony and allusion, metaphor, jest and deliberate confusion, going as far as overturning perspectives and values. In this conceptual realm, the designer and the master artisan are invited to express their vision, through exchange and rule breaking, evoking irony and fun, within a spirit of pure pleasure and creative freedom.
Visitors will be welcomed at Palazzo Litta by the imposing site-specific artwork executed by Milanese master artisan Gianluca Pacchioni, who specialises in sculpting stone and metal, in collaboration with Girasole Pietre Naturali, an artisan atelier in Verona dedicated to the research and processing of stone in keeping with the region's rich heritage.
‘Embraced’ designed by Jaime Hayón and crafted by Lladró. Copyright: ©Lladró
For this year's edition, the organising partners have thoroughly researched, on an international level, a series of works created around this theme in the spirit of Doppia Firma. This meaningful selection was also made possible thanks to the contribution of the Michelangelo Foundation's international network, consisting of leading European institutions involved in promoting craftsmanship.
The creative duos of designers and artisans or outstanding craft businesses featured at Doppia Firma 2023 are:
Meherunnisa Asad, with Muhammad Ashfaq, Pakistan
Atelier Biagetti, with Ceramiche Gatti, Italy
Jean Blanchaert with Lucio Bubacco, Italy
Giampiero Bodino, with De Castelli, Italy
Yvonne Brunner and Daniel Zeisner, with Breitwieser Manufacturer, Austria
Victor Cadene, with Maison Thevenon, France
Matteo Cibic, with Simone Crestani, Italy
Philippe Cramer, with Atelier B, Switzerland
Adam Nathaniel Furman, with Curiousa, UK
Adriana Gomez, Switzerland/Colombia, with Yecid Robayo, Colombia
Pierre Gonalons, with Craman Lagarde, France
Jaime Hayón, with Lladró, Spain
František Jungvirt, with Ajeto Glass Studio, Czech Republic
Helle Mardahl, with Jørn Friborg, Denmark
Pierre Marie, with Lison de Caunes, France
Lucia Massari, with Barbini Specchi Veneziani, Italy
Julien Michaud, with Emaux de Longwy, France
Luca Nichetto, with Lunardelli Venezia, Sweden/Italy
Zoe Piter, with Maximilien Pellet, France
Supertoys Supertoys, with Studio Zand, The Netherlands
Mario Trimarchi, with Massimo Lunardon, Italy
Chris Wolston, America, with Jose Luis Álvarez, Colombia
Gianni Cinti, with Elena Mulas (As part of the Artijanus/Artijanas project at the Triennale)
Sonia Pedrazzini, with Walter Usai (As part of the Artijanus/Artijanas project at the Triennale)
Some of these creative couples were asked to design and produce works specifically for the Doppia Firma exhibition at Palazzo Litta.
The collaborations between Biagetti and Gatti, Blanchaert and Bubacco, Bodino and De Castelli, Cibic and Crestani, Massari and Barbini, Nichetto and Lunardelli Venezia have resulted in masterpieces that harmoniously combine design and craftsmanship with the extraordinary creative freedom and wealth of references, associations and insights fostered by the exhibition theme, in the name of creativity that is perpetually unconventional.
Viabuzzuno is supporting Doppia Firma by lighting the site-specific sculpture of Gianluca Pacchioni and the grand staircase. At the forefront of research, this exceptional partner designs and installs lighting alongside renowned artists, designers and businesses, always in the name of beauty and excellence.
Thanks to its ongoing partnership with Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte, Palazzo Litta has become one of the most important venues where the cultures of craftsmanship and design meet:
- Fondazione Cologni will present its acclaimed programme "Arts & Crafts & Design at Palazzo Litta" as part of Milan Design Week 2023.
- In the Esedra hall, designer Sara Ricciardi presents La Grande Bellezza, handcrafted manufacturing and poetic design are the pinnacle of the project promoted by Starhotels which supports fine Italian craftsmanship in collaboration with Fondazione Cologni, OMA and Gruppo Editoriale.
- In the Ducal apartment, "Doppia Firma". Two of the couples are featured in the "Artijanus / Artijanas" programme, developed under the curatorship of Triennale Milano.
- Creative Academy, Richemont Group's international design school, will present Zodiac, a tribute to "constellations" curated by Eligo Studio, resulting from the collaboration between the 20 students and Lodi-based master ceramicist Tonino Negri.
Collaborations:- Alessandra Salaris, an established interior stylist, is responsible for the display design of the exhibition at Palazzo Litta.
- Laila Pozzo, a Milanese photographer specialising in portraits and settings related to fine craftsmanship, documents the works.
- Living, the interiors, design and lifestyle magazine published by Corriere della Sera.
Doppia Firma at Salone del Mobile, Palazzo Litta, Corso Magenta 24. Open to the public. Tuesday 18 to Sunday 23 April, 10:00 – 19:00
