Domenico Orefice's 'Momo the Explorer' blends fairytales and awareness

Momo the Explorer is an innovative design project for a magical moment when fairy tales are read to unite children and parents in a multisensory experience. Through the illustrated story of Momo, drawn on the tapestry blanket, we want to emphasise the cognitive development of the child and start to raise awareness on environmental issues like air, water and marine pollution, explain renewable energy and the respect for ecosystems and their inhabitants. Momo the Explorer be showcased as part of the RO Plastic Prize Exhibition in Palazzo Bandello 22 in Milan, Italy. 

Momo the Explorer is an illustrated jacquard-knit blanket for children that tells the adventures of a child named Momo, his drone Lucy and the little bird Pio, as they venture into the natural world exploring endangered ecosystems like oceans and forests. This idea was conceived by Domenico Orefice and brought to life thanks to the manufacturing expertise of Lanificio Leo, a historic wool mill based in Calabria.

Through this journey, he will learn about renewable energy and the problem of car exhausts. Along the journey, he will meet new friends with whom he will try to find solutions and understand the best way to change habits and actions. There is no villain or bad character in this story. Everything depends on us and our choices and we need to acknowledge that our daily actions are the only chance we have to change.

Momo’s story is made on an eco-sustainable regenerated wool plaid or tapestry woven by Lanificio Leo. It is a soft support on which even very small children can visually read the story told by their parent, following the figures that illustrate the story, and at the same time immerse themselves in a warm embrace. The plaid can be used as a blanket in the child’s first months and as a decorative tapestry for the bedroom in childhood. Momo the Explorer is an Italian quality manufacturing project that follows the tradition of the story understood as a design object, an experimental edition for childhood that focuses on the cognitive development of the child. It is intended for those daily moments of closeness between parents and children, like when reading bedtime stories. Momo the explorer will transform the moment of reading into an opportunity for sharing and creativity so that the experience of storytelling can be combined with tactile stimulation and imagination and raise awareness on environmental issues. The project has been carried out in collaboration with Lanificio Leo, founded in 1873, the oldest textile factory based in the Calabria region. The company represents a perfect mix of the enhancement of traditional know-how and a strong propensity for innovation. Its impressive fleet of historic machines, made up of machinery dating from 1890 to 1965, is still today the beating heart of production and its company museum.

The tale illustrated in the plaid, like a circular African tapestry, features the adventures of Momo the Explorer, a child with a fervid imagination who will visit many worlds together with the little bird Pio and the drone Lucy:

Our three protagonists leave together and after many hours of flight, with the wind in his hair, Momo sees the ocean from above and decides to take a nice swim. While swimming he comes across strange fishes. But looking closely, he realises that they are plastic bags, that have trapped the real fishes inside. Luckily an octopus passes by and, realising the danger, makes itself available to the child. By working together they manage to free all the inhabitants of the ocean taking away the waste and putting it on a ship. After a big sprawling embrace with the octopus he sets off again and, blown by the Aeolus wind, arrives in the world of large giant flowers called wind turbines. These are moved by the breath of Aeolus creating a strong clean energy, big as a sun that manages to heat and light up an entire city every day. All happy for that splendid discovery, waving from above with his hand, he embraces the drone Lucy and flies away.

But shortly after he comes across a terrifying monster. In reality, the dark creature turns out to be a sad and sick cloud due to the toxic fumes of the cars. Momo seals a deal with the clouds to scare the cars and make them turn off their engines. So the air becomes clean again and the cloud cries for joy watering the flowers that become happy again. To set a good example, the child grabs a bike and sets off again followed by his two friends.

On the way home he passes through a wood, where he runs into Ted bear, who is leaving those lands with his backpack between his teeth. Intrigued, Momo asks him why, and so he discovers that due to too many bulldozers and little attention to how things are thrown away, the land of the bear has become a giant wastebasket. Running away isn’t a solution, says the boy, so they all together decide to plant new trees and clean up the forest. With the cut down trees, they create a home for the bear who will thus be able to supervise his lands and drive away people who do not respect nature.

Now everyone falls asleep getting a restful sleep. But at this point the child feels a gentle touch on his face and wakes up. He understands that all this was just a dream, but that those problems really exist, so he decides that the next day on his way to school he will tell his friends about it. Everyone will know that the world is in serious danger, but that we can still help if we commit ourselves every day, just how Momo decided to do.

Momo the Explorer will remain on display from 17-23 April, 2023, as part of the RO Plastic Prize Exhibition in Palazzo Bandello 22 in Milan, Italy.

STIR’s coverage of Milan Design Week 2023 showcases the best exhibitions, studios, designers, installations, brands, and special projects to look out for. Explore Euroluce 2023 and all the design districts—5Vie Art and Design, Brera Design District, Fuorisalone, Isola Design District, Tortona District, and Milano Design District—with us.