Looking up to an ever-changing world with the playful and creative spirit of a child who explores a whole new grown-up reality: this is the spirit of Italian design captured by ‘Design for Fun‘, the exhibition launched in Shanghai at the Museum of Art Pudong (MAP) and promoted by the Consulate General of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Shanghai, part of the calendar of the 2022 Italy-China Year of Culture and Tourism.
‘Design for Fun’ was inaugurated by the Consul General of Italy in Shanghai Tiziana D’Angelo and by the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Shanghai Francesco D’Arelli, its staging carries the signature of the world-renowned Italian designer Aldo Cibic.
The exhibition gathers some of the most iconic Italian design creations of the last 70 years. Over 200 pieces by pioneers of industrial design are arranged into thematic modules investigating the union between aesthetics and functionality, and how it pertains to innovation as well as the constant research and experimentation with shapes and materials.
‘Design for Fun’ introduces Chinese visitors to contemporary Italy and its identity, the one of a creative, optimist and curious society able to produce objects that are both beautiful and functional, and sometimes ironic. It fits right into Shanghai’s innovative design landscape, where the discipline is a true instrument of dialogue between cultures, based on the shared values of imagination, creativity and experimentation.
“This exhibition pays tribute to Italy’s extraordinary ability to combine productive, functional and aesthetic needs with a creative verve that is above preconceptions and stereotypes. – says Consul General of Italy in Shanghai Tiziana D’Angelo – Italian design has been able to use strategies of play to create beautiful and fun objects as well as to solve concrete challenges, coming up with solutions ahead of their time, milestones in the history of industrial design.”
The Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Shanghai Francesco D’Arelli celebrated Italian design in his introduction: “Here in Shanghai, a bustling metropolis rich in artistic experimentations and a world center of sustainable creativity, ‘Design for Fun’ shows just how much Italian design blazed a trail in the invention of new shapes, the manipulation of materials and in its ambition to bring beauty to every facet of everyday living. The staging carries the signature of Aldo Cibic, master of color and of shapes that are at the same time simple, beautiful and harmonious. The exhibition is a kaleidoscope of color where the visitors can lose themselves in a joyous celebration of everything Italian.”
Among the pieces shown at the exhibition, lent by tens of Italian and European manufacturers, are the creations of some of the greatest names in design like Ettore Sottsass, Carlo and Tobia Scarpa, Aldo Cibic, Cleto Munari, Enzo Mari, Gae Aulenti, Piero Castiglioni, Gaetano Pesce, Joe Colombo, Vico Magistretti, as well as creations of international designers who contributed to the Italian design sector.
