Artisans, Designers, and Makers of Contemporary Sardinia
December 20, 2022–May 31, 2023
Sassari 07100
Italy
Curated by Giuliana Altea, Antonella Camarda, and Luca Cheri.
The exhibition recounts the last fifteen years of creative projects made in Sardinia in the expanded design field, presenting a range of productions from industrial design to the recovery of ancient craft techniques, from high-tech to experimental archeology, challenging the view of an island that passively re-proposes a timeless tradition.
This ferment of ideas, objects, and projects already ten years ago found a prestigious international recognition with the Compasso d’oro ADI—Association for Industrial Design, awarded to the XIX DOMO Biennial of Crafts. Today it has entered a new phase, more dynamic and attentive to sustainability.
Creatives from various disciplinary fields (industrial, graphic and fashion design, visual arts, architecture) meet exponents of the traditional and innovative craft world, giving life to collections, special projects, and new productions.
The result is a universe of activities and research that today makes Sardinia a field of experimentation at the crossroads between design, craftsmanship, architecture and art, among the most interesting in the Italian context and beyond. From textiles to wood, from metals to ceramics, from goldsmithing to fashion, the new protagonists of the Sardinian scene bring traditional colors, shapes and materials into the present day.
The exhibition brings back to the public the Tavolara Pavilion, an architectural jewel designed in 1956 by Ubaldo Badas (1904–1985) to host the shows of ISOLA, the Sardinian Institute for Artisan Work Organization, an endeavor founded under the guidance of the designer Eugenio Tavolara (1901–1963) to encourage the renewal of Sardinian craftsmanship through dialogue between artists, designers, and artisans.
In the spirit of experimentation and networking of Eugenio Tavolara, the encounter between projects and manual skills takes place today on a level of sharing, dialogue, and equal exchange, generating new culture and a new economy.
Making and thinking, skill and design, equally characterize the activity of artisans, designers and makers, who work independently or team up for complex projects. Tradition is a starting point, sometimes a destination, but never a restraint or an obstacle to experimentation.
Sardinia is a physical place and, above all, a state of mind. Some have never left it. Some have returned to build a future. Others have found a new home here or stayed just for the time of an experience. Some live abroad but carry it, however, within themselves.
For everyone, it is an essential element of comparison, a source of inspiration, or a stimulus for change.
The interweaving of paths and experiences creates a network of relationships that crosses the Mediterranean, whose protagonists discover themselves as local and global, attached to their roots and always looking for new ways.
The exhibition is organized jointly by Fondazione Nivola and Comune di Sassari and supported by Regione Sardegna, Fondazione di Sardegna and Confartigianato Sassari.
