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When Italian artist and designer Matteo Cibic met Maëlig Chauvin, the director of the Riom Limagne and Volcans Museums, in the September of 2023 in Riom, France, it marked the beginning of their joyous future collaborations. For instance, the Double Paradiso show at Riom's Mandet Museum presents Cibic's designs in dialogue with its art collections, creating a dynamic environment that thrives on interrelationships. "Together we envisaged a retrospective, a common thread, around desires and deadly sins...a wander through a garden of entertainment as a metaphor for the human soul," notes Chauvin, the exhibition's curator.
The French art museum has showcased several designers and contemporary artists since its establishment, but Double Paradiso is the first exhibition dedicated to an Italian designer since the Made in Italy exhibition in 1986.
Running from June 15, 2024 - February 23, 2025, the design exhibition is divided into eight sections, the first of which is an art installation comprising a pair of sculptural planters in the entrance courtyard of the 18th century Hôtel Dufraisse building. The vestibule greets visitors with the show's second section, The Temple of gaME, where an eccentric bust of Pinocchio—embodying the dreams, desires, pride and weaknesses of oneself—stands as the primary subject of Double Paradiso. It presents itself as an amusing reinterpretation of the ancient Roman bust, featuring motifs inspired by contemporary Italian earthenware.
Drawing parallels from Pinocchio's nose, The Gallery of Noses curated by Federica Sala consists of the VasoNaso (nose vase) ceramic collection, which is displayed on a yellow kiosk in the centre. The collection features 336 distinct pastel-coloured vases that exhibit various interpretations of the nose, handcrafted by Cibic in 2016. To the section's left lies The greenhouse of ideas, a space dressed in deep red, born from the designer's anger. The space acts as a window to Cibic's working process, presenting sketches and videos to give more meaning to his creations.
One might feel strange yet excited to arrive at the otherworldly apothecary that is The Theatre of Envy, as glass poison vases, ceramic pharmacy bottles, syrups, powders and pill containers sit idly behind glass panes. Here, Cibic translates themes of hope, rebirth, desire, jealousy, chance and fate and poses a question for all who find themselves taken with the 'theatrical game' of his 'ambivalent symbolism'—do these vases hold a rosier future, or does a dark fate await those who dare to taste their contents?
Cibic places 'self-producing flora' under glass containers for the Dermapoliesis collection curated by Valentina Ciuffi, as an opening act to The Garden of Follies, underlining the importance of studying biodiversity and utilising the knowledge to invent hybrid plant and biomaterial typologies. The museum's large exhibition space indulges visitors into a forest of abundance and extravagance, featuring lush textile trees and artworks by Cibic, arranged together with the museum's collections. The next stop on the design journey is The Storytellers' Gallery, which features blown glass domes over sculptural domsai vases resembling an astronaut, urging guests to explore the museum and its contents with a different perspective while meditating, resting and savouring the present.
As the experience reaches its conclusion at The Pavilion of Delights, the designer entertains the thought of succumbing to the temptations of gluttony by presenting opulent and vibrant art that might consume one with greed. The pavilion's theme extends beyond the room as Cibic leaves parts of the design installation disseminated across the previous rooms, gradually indulging the visitors and building anticipation. A composite of art and design, Double Paradiso exhibits Cibic's bold, experimental approach to contemporary design. Showcasing over two decades of expertise in working with ceramic, glass, metal and textiles, Cibic shapes the whimsical utopian bestiary setting of the Double Paradiso.
'Double Paradiso' is on view from June 15, 2024 - February 23, 2025, at the Mandet Museum in Riom, France.
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