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From path-breaking and innovative design and contemporary preservation of traditional craftsmanship to creative manifestations wherein both of these divergent worlds collide: Milan Design Week 2023 is set to provide visibility and catapult an entire spectrum of initiatives. Salone del Mobile.Milano has established itself as one of the leading design events that animate Milan with innovation and creativity—becoming an undoubtedly prominent offshoot of the design week. Doppia Firma is one such project that amalgamates European design innovation and traditional artisanship not only from Europe but also from other continents such as Asia and Latin America, to cultivate unique and refined partnerships. These singular objects are born from the cross-pollination between a design culture and an authentic expression of the region of origin.
Marking the 2023 edition of the eminent design fair Salone del Mobile.Milano, the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship in partnership with the Fondazione Cologni will unveil the seventh edition of Doppia Firma, Dialogues Between Design and Artisanal Excellence. Doppia Firma 2023 will spotlight the intriguing concept of playfulness—a theme that has long been represented in contemporary arts, culminating in results free from rules and conventions. Participating in this project, which will be on display in the grand halls of Palazzo Litta from April 18 to 23, 2023, is the Peshawar-based artistic collective Studio Lél. Conforming to this year’s theme of playfulness, the studio helmed by multidisciplinary artist and designer Meherunnisa Asad collaborates with master artisan Muhammad Ashfaq to create Dark Side of the Moon, a composition of zero-waste sculptural screens. “The Dark Side of the Moon tells the story of rebirth and hope, of the light fading away and returning inevitably—carrying forward Lel’s legacy of collaborating with Afghan artisans displaced by conflict,” reads the studio’s official release.
During the design festival, Doppia Firma will embrace playfulness and humour, irony and insinuation, metaphor and calculated confusion, striving to dismantle perspectives and values. The designer and master artisan are invited to materialise their imagination through an exchange and rule-breaking process, ultimately evoking fun while exuding sheer creative freedom. The alliance between innovation and tradition resides at the core of the project—a tenet equally intrinsic to Studio Lél’s ethos. The Pakistan-based practise is dedicated to reinterpreting 16th-century Italian art and Mughal art of Pietra Dura, also known as a stone inlay. Their latest creation for Milan Design Week, like their previous work, falls in the grey area between fine art, design, and craft.
The sculptural art perpetuates the legacy of the Pietra Dura art form while transcending its limits in tandem. Through a set of zero-waste screens that vacillate between art and design, the work speaks of rebirth and hope. It is created with an overlapping mosaic of lapis lazuli, a semi-precious stone originating in Afghanistan and beloved for its blue colour since ancient Egypt where it was believed to contain the soul of the gods. From the coveted gemstone quality lapis lazuli stone to its blue tones, the work also embodies the grey parts that are usually discarded; these greys are used as a metaphor for rebirth. The playful use of lapis lazuli reimagines the confines of semi-precious stones, using it as a fluid facade that effortlessly sheaths the metal spheres in a hue created by nature and curated by man.
Fine craftsmanship and creativity will take centre stage with the magnificence of Palazzo Litta, the historical palace entrusted to the Regional Secretariat of the Italian Ministry of Culture, in the backdrop. Owing to its ongoing partnership with Fondazione Cologni dei Mestierid'Arte, which encompasses seminars, lectures, events and exhibitions open to the public, Palazzo Litta has become a prominent venue where the cultures of craftsmanship and design meet. Studio Lél joins the caravan of singular designs that will grace the exhibition spaces during the week when creativity spills out on the streets of Italy—exploring the dialogue between craft skills and project design.
Doppia Firma will be on view from April 18 to 23, 2023, at Palazzo Litta during Milan Design Week 2023 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.
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