The Whole story
For the second year in a row, the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship is proud to be a part of Doppia Firma, a project that embodies the Foundation’s core mission and values by bringing the worlds of design and of craftsmanship into close and fruitful contact with one another. Gorgeous, intriguing, even fun – these are just some of the ways to describe the objects created by the 13 designer-artisan duos who participated in this edition of the project. Still, it is important to remember that the objects are only a part of the story of this exhibit.
Doppia Firma is a story of relationships. Beginning with the relationship between the Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte and Living Corriere della Sera, the vision and cooperation of the two organisations provides a firm foundation for this exciting project. The relationships forged between the master artisans and designers, ones that require great care and sensitivity, are what allow the objects they co-create to be infused with originality and freshness. Finally, this originality and freshness make it possible for people to form a different kind of relationship to the objects themselves and, in so doing, to counteract trends of throw-away consumerism.
This project is also a story of our global world today. The designers who have participated hail from Italy, Lebanon, Switzerland, Uruguay, Iran, France, the Netherlands, Japan, the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, and the United States. To contemplate the impressive breadth of culture and perspectives folded into the exhibit speaks volumes for its contemporary nature.
At the same time, this edition of Doppia Firma brings into focus a very specific Region in Italy since all of the participating master artisans come from Venice and the Veneto Region. This area, with its extraordinary natural diversity and artisanal traditions, has long been at the crossroads of exchange and the forefront of culture.
The Michelangelo Foundation is particularly pleased that the exhibit highlights this Region since Venice is the location for our first major international, cultural exhibition on fine craftsmanship. Homo Faber, Crafting a more human future (www.homofaberevent.com) will take place this September at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini on San Giorgio Maggiore Island in Venice. Covering some 4,000 square metres of exhibition space, Homo Faber will be a tribute to master artisans and to traditional, rare and contemporary fine craftsmanship throughout Europe. It will also provide another opportunity to view this edition of Doppia Firma.
Doppia Firma, meaning “double signature”, is above all a story of identity since a signature is a hallmark of identity. Rock stars have a “signature sound”. Golf courses have a “signature hole”. Athletes have a “signature move”. A signature makes something our own. It renders something – a sound, a hole, a move – valuable. Two signatures are more valuable still. They carry an even stronger message, one of shared identity, and of skills, ideas, and forces joined in an attempt to push beyond one’s own limitations.
So when you view these beautiful objects, try to push the limits of your vision so that when you see lamps, stacked ceramic bowls, or salt and pepper shakers, you may also catch a glimpse of relationship, identity, and true value – so that you may see the whole story.