FARAWAY, SO CLOSE

By connecting design with other disciplines outside their comfort zones, FARAWAY, SO CLOSE investigates the potential of extra-urban. In the form of seven episodes, participants will develop possible scenarios that will attempt to enquire into global and local issues using the existing Slovenian territory as a paradigm.

Building on its structure as an international platform for new approaches in design and as a testing ground employing long-term collaborative processes, 50 multidisciplinary participants from all over the world came together from September 14–16 at the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO) to kick off FARAWAY, SO CLOSE, the 25th Biennial of Design (BIO 25). Members from seven episodes started their collaborative process with international creative figures (Translators), chosen for their ability to use design and architecture as tools for investigating contemporary issues, along with selected Slovenian individuals (Profiles), whose originality and knowledge serve as inspiration with which to articulate design practices and a speculative scenography to be presented at the Biennial.

Curators Angela Rui and Maja Vardjan explained the curatorial concept FARAWAY, SO CLOSE, which investigates what is distant, but not yet remote enough to penetrate our memory because it is still waiting for a semantic connotation. The curators challenged the participants to start collaborative process by exploring new frictions—frictions emerging from the cohabitation of remote meanings and contemporary habits as they search for new territories to give meaning to, different places to re-inhabit, ancient relations to re-enact, basic coexistences to re-imagine. At the same time they are challenged to use the frictions between these diverse conditions in order to produce new scenarios for a different present time. The main topics were presented as a system of open questions waiting for possible interpretations by the seven teams that will bring the local experience into a common discussion to be developed through the design process.

The teams set out on field trips to specific locations that now serve as settings for screenplays to be developed. Episode UNDERGROUND RELEASE is set in the subterranean world of caves in the Mayor's Cave near Ljubljana, OCCUPYING WOODS in the wild forest of Kočevje, AFTER UTOPIA in a soon-to-be-closed mining landscape of Trbovlje, COUNTRYSIDE RELOADED in a rural playground of the Bloke plateau, RESILIENCE OF THE PAST in a quiet Alpine setting near the Soča river that was once a raging battleground in World War I, NEW HEROES on the looming sea of the Slovenian coastline, while BRAND NEW-COEXISTENCE will explore contemporary urban ruins in connection with the famous kiosk K67 in Ljubljana.

Curators Angela Rui and Maja Vardjan reflected: "Kick-off was an encounter on different levels—territory, local profile, international designers and participants. It was the first occasion for discussion on possible directions for investigation on a more meta level as well an opportunity to formulate different approaches towards the selected locations."

From May 25 to October 29, 2017, FARAWAY, SO CLOSE will present seven site-specific interventions along with the main exhibition and a catalogue, accompanied by an Associated Projects programme. The work process will be documented on the FARAWAY, SO CLOSE website, as well as on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

FARAWAY, SO CLOSE episodes
UNDERGROUND RELEASE
Studio Formafantasma, designers, and Andrej Detela, profile
Dan Adlešič/Patrick Herron/Eva Jäger/Daniele Misso/Isabella Rinaldi

OCCUPYING WOODS
Matali Crasset, designer, and Matej Feguš, profile
Petra Bukovinski/Karolina Ferenc/Annika Frye/Jurij Lozić/Pola Marcin/Salicka Liminowicz/Martina Obid Mlakar/Daniel Riegler

AFTER UTOPIA
Point Supreme, designers, and Iztok Kovač, profile
Matteo Ghidoni/GROUND ACTION/LOCUMENT/Gaja Mežnarić Osole/SOFT BAROQUE/WUNDERKAMMER TRENTO

BRAND NEW COEXISTENCE
Didier Faustino, designer, and Mojca Kumerdej, profile
Polona Dolzan/Miloš Kosec/Julien Manaira/Margarethe Müller/Lilian Pala/Simon Rowe/Nikolaj Salaj

COUNTRYSIDE RELOADED
Studio Mischer’Traxler, designers, and Klemen Košir, profile
Sara Brown/Catarina de Almeida Brito/Brigitte Hoefler/Lucia Massari/Nina Mršnik/Johanna Schmeer/Giulia Soldati/Jakob Travnik

RESILIENCE OF THE PAST
Studio Folder, designers, and Renata Salecl, profile
Merve Bedir/Gali Blay/Giulia Cordin/Dawid Górny/Carlos Kong/Gili Merin/MONURIKI/Ana Pečar/Anna Positano

NEW HEROES
Odo Fioravanti, designer, and Marin Medak, profile
Jan Almonkari/BOLLERIA INDUSTRIAL/Luca Fattore/Juan Nicolas Paez/Fabio Petronilli/Elisa Testori/Vesna Vončina