White Carrara 2024 proclaims ‘Design is Back’ with old and new marble works

White Carrara, an exhibition event that celebrates designs and artefacts made in Italy, returns for its eighth edition to Carrara in Tuscany. On view from June 14 - September 29, 2024, the ongoing edition—promoted and produced by the Municipality of Carrara in collaboration with Internazionale Marmi e Macchine CarraraFiere SpA and Naausica SpA, with the joint participation of the North-West Tuscany Chamber of Commerce—is entitled Design is Back. The art and design event is curated by artistic director Domenico Raimondi and hosts a multi-site exhibition across indoor and outdoor locations.

The works on display are all crafted out of the white marble of Carrara. Among the art and design installations are iconic pieces that were crafted in the region. While some of these include works that were developed in the town laboratories during different times in the past, some include novel projects undertaken by contemporary designers, facilitating the meeting of works across different eras and the intermixing of ingenious works that are emblematic of good craftsmanship.

Enunciating upon the significance of the material, Raimondi explains, “Over the years, Italian design has had recourse to the Carrara quarries for the creation of everyday objects of high aesthetic value. This heritage often remains hidden within the town, shut away in workplaces, then it appears in the stores and showrooms of the whole world, becoming a protagonist of day-to-day living.” Raimondi further elaborates upon the art and design exhibition, “White Carrara 2024 is a truly collective experience founded on the responsibility and generosity of sharing what Carrara is able to do.”

The sculpture exhibition celebrates pieces from the history of Italian design such as the Anna G bottle-opener, designed by Alessandro Mendini for Alessi in 1994 as a homage to the 20th anniversary of the bottle-opener of the same name. Another showcase, Tree Table and Rabbit Chair designed by Stefano Giovannoni and made by Robot City in 2014 for Salone del Mobile, is a marble installation consisting of a phytomorphic table and zoomorphic rabbit-shaped chair designs. Soul, designed by architect Simone Micheli and made by Sa.Ge.Van in 2023, is a pouffe-cum-sculpture that brings a new dimension of fluidity and softness to the otherwise hard material.

Some other pieces on display include Origami Evolution by Corinna Natalia Balloni and Carlo Alberto Gasparini; Pietra Book by Giulio Cappellini; Favela Chair by Fernando and Humberto Campana and EDRA; Animable table by Emiliano Moretti; Big Mac pot by Luisa Bocchietto; E-Marble Sound and Desk Pad by Carlo Colombi; Hexagon by Eugenio Biselli; Coulee Tavolino by Nina Cho; Velata Tavolino by Olga Bielewska and Psammos by Enrico Azzimonti, among others.

On the other hand, newer marble productions include a kettle from Italian architect and designer Michele De Lucchi’s Plissé collection and Italian product designer and artist Elena Salmistraro’s panda Bernardo. While Lucchi’s kettle, conceived in its material form by Alessi, Franchi Umberto Marmi and Angeloni Marble studio, is a recreation of the designer’s iconic and popular electric kettle, Salmistraro’s Bernardo, created with help from the Barattini family and produced by Bosa Ceramiche, is a panda that symbolises all the species at risk of extinction.

Some other pieces include the Witty armchair by Michel Boucquillon, 8 by autori vari and Paolo Ulian’s table design Gomitolo, wash basins Introverso and Pixel, among others. Some smaller pieces on display at the art and design festival include the Up&Up collection by UpGroup, the collection La Casa di Pietra or The Stone House by Gumdesign and lamp designs and sculptures designed by nine designers as part of the project Luci di Cava or Quarry Lights.

White Carrara 2024 also hosts Off Circuit or Circuito Off, a segment dedicated to expositions and side events by local laboratories and art galleries in the old centre of the town. Further, in anticipation of Design is Back, the Carrara Fine Arts Academy involved its students with the recollection of the utilisation of Carrara in design via a series of lectures. This culminated with the conception of various product design projects dedicated to marble.

The ongoing art and design exhibition serves as an opportunity for the dissemination and promotion of local excellence in tandem with Carrara marble. In addition to the display of both monumental and smaller pieces, White Carrara has also organised guided tours of various art studios, stone companies and quarries, as well as musical events, enogastronomic initiatives and activities for children, all in an attempt to present the landscape of a place that produces one of the most sought after contemporary design material.

White Carrara 2024, entitled ‘Design is Back’ is on view from June 14 - September 29, 2024, at the Old Centre in Carrara, Italy.