Doppia Firma 2023 

DIALOGUES BETWEEN DESIGN AND ARTISANAL EXCELLENCE

Seventh edition

Salone del Mobile, Milan 

Palazzo Litta, Corso Magenta 24

Open to the public

Tuesday 18 to Sunday 23 April, 10:00 – 19:00

Last entry at 18.45

www.doppiafirma.com

• A concept enhancing the value of craftsmanship and design
• The underlying theme of playfulness encourages creativity to unfold with expressive freedom
• 24 fruitful creative partnerships
• An imposing site-specific artwork created by Gianluca Pacchioni for the Courtyard of Honour at Palazzo Litta
• Iconic objects designed by Luca Nichetto, Pierre Marie, Chris Wolston, Supertoys Supertoys, Adam Nathaniel Furman, Victor Cadene, Jean Blanchaert and other internationally renowned designers
• Outstanding manufacturers such as De Castelli, Barbini Specchi Veneziani, Emaux de Longwy, Craman Lagarde, Lunardelli Venezia, Lucio Bubacco and many others
• A masterpiece by artisan-artist Emanuela Crotti
• A special collaboration with Triennale di Milano for the second edition of the project Artijanus / Artijanas

On the occasion of the 2023 Salone del Mobile, the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship is pleased to present the seventh edition of Doppia Firma. Dialogues Between Design and Artisanal Excellence. The project was conceived by the Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte and developed with Living, the interiors, design and lifestyle magazine published by Corriere della Sera.

Doppia Firma spotlights the alliance between design innovation and the tradition of great master artisans not only from Europe, but for the first time also from other continents, such as Asia (with a project crafted in Pakistan) and Latin America (with the works of Colombian artisans), in order to generate a creative partnership between a designer/artist and an artisan, or a manufacturer of excellence. These one-of-a-kind objects are born from the cross-fertilisation between a design culture and a savoir-faire that is an authentic expression of its region of origin.

Visitors to the new edition will be welcomed at Palazzo Litta by the imposing site-specific artwork executed by Milanese master artisan Gianluca Pacchioni, who specialises in sculpting stone and metal, in collaboration with Girasole Pietre Naturali, an artisan atelier in Verona dedicated to the research and processing of stone in keeping with the region's rich heritage. Richini's monumental 17th-century Courtyard of Honour will be the setting for the work of this exceptional artisan-artist, a veritable demiurge and heir of the Renaissance tradition, who will have the opportunity to express, with the sculptural energy that characterises his works, the strength and intensity of his creative process, arising from the convergence of art and inspiration, talent and originality, in the name of his great artistic and technical expertise.

Doppia Firma 2023 focuses on the fascinating concept of "playfulness": a theme that has always been represented in contemporary and applied arts, yielding very interesting and often original results, unbound by rules and conventions. In fact, the concept embraces playfulness and humour, irony and allusion, metaphor, jest and deliberate confusion, going as far as overturning perspectives and values. In this conceptual realm, the designer and the master artisan are invited to express their vision, through exchange and rule breaking, evoking irony and fun, within a spirit of pure pleasure and creative freedom. As Ernesto L. Francalanci observed in a historical and fundamental text on this topic: "The phenomenon of playfulness uncovers a broader constellation of references, which orbit around the concept of allusion, ranging from the notions of playing and joking to that of the various types of humour, and therefore of wit and comicality (...) playfulness is expressed above all by the power of contamination and transgressive fusion of contents related to knowledge and memory." (Del Ludico. Dopo il sorriso delle avanguardie, Milan, Mazzotta, 1982).

For this year's edition, the organising partners have thoroughly researched, on an international level, a series of works created around this theme in the spirit of Doppia Firma. A spirit that has long since established itself both as a methodology and a benchmark, becoming a much-appreciated format that has inspired a number of similar initiatives, in which designer and master artisan interact, complement each other and work with the same authorial dignity (hence the principle of the "double signature"). This meaningful selection was also made possible thanks to the invaluable contribution of the Michelangelo Foundation's international network, consisting of leading European institutions involved in promoting craftsmanship.

Also for the 2023 edition, designers and master artisans have worked with many different materials and techniques (ceramic, metal, mirror, wood, glass, straw, paper, ...) in order to arrive at new interpretations of functional and decorative objects. The exhibits, all of which are true narrative icons, are displayed along an itinerary that unfolds through the magnificent halls of the main floor of Palazzo Litta, a spectacular Baroque treasure chest in the heart of the city that is also the prestigious headquarters of the Regional Secretariat of the Ministry of Culture. The initiative falls within the framework of the partnership between Palazzo Litta and Fondazione Cologni, aimed at the production of a rich programme of shared cultural initiatives and exhibitions based on the theme of high-end artistic craftsmanship.

The creative couples of designers and artisans or outstanding craft businesses featured at Doppia Firma 2023 are:

1. Meherunnisa Asad, with Muhammad Ashfaq, Pakistan
2. Atelier Biagetti, with Ceramiche Gatti, Italy
3. Jean Blanchaert with Lucio Bubacco, Italy
4. Giampiero Bodino, with De Castelli, Italy
5. Yvonne Brunner and Daniel Zeisner, with Breitwieser Manufacturer, Austria
6. Victor Cadene, with Maison Thevenon, France
7. Matteo Cibic, with Simone Crestani, Italy
8. Philippe Cramer, with Atelier B, Switzerland
9. Adam Nathaniel Furman, with Curiousa, UK
10. Adriana Gomez, Switzerland/Colombia, with Yecid Robayo, Colombia
11. Pierre Gonalons, with Craman Lagarde, France
12. Jaime Hayón, with Lladró, Spain
13. František Jungvirt, with Ajeto Glass Studio, Czech Republic
14. Helle Mardahl, with Jørn Friborg, Denmark
15. Pierre Marie, with Lison de Caunes, France
16. Lucia Massari, with Barbini Specchi Veneziani, Italy
17. Julien Michaud, with Emaux de Longwy, France
18. Luca Nichetto, with Lunardelli Venezia, Sweden/Italy
19. Zoe Piter, with Maximilien Pellet, France
20. Supertoys Supertoys, with Studio Zand, The Netherlands
21. Mario Trimarchi, with Massimo Lunardon, Italy
22. Chris Wolston, America, with Jose Luis Álvarez, Colombia

As part of the Artijanus/Artijanas project:

1. Gianni Cinti, with Elena Mulas
2. Sonia Pedrazzini, with Walter Usai

Some of these creative couples were asked to design and produce works specifically for the Doppia Firma exhibition at Palazzo Litta. The collaborations between Biagetti and Gatti, Blanchaert and Bubacco, Bodino and De Castelli, Cibic and Crestani, Massari and Barbini, Nichetto and Lunardelli Venezia have resulted in masterpieces that harmoniously combine design and craftsmanship with the extraordinary creative freedom and wealth of references, associations and insights fostered by the exhibition theme, in the name of creativity that is perpetually unconventional.

Viabuzzuno is supporting Doppia Firma by lighting the site-specific sculpture of Gianluca Pacchioni and the grand staircase. At the forefront of research, this exceptional partner designs and installs lighting alongside renowned artists, designers and businesses, always in the name of beauty and excellence.

Fine craftsmanship and creativity will be on show once again in the magnificent halls of Palazzo Litta, the historical palace entrusted to the Regional Secretariat of the Italian Ministry of Culture. Thanks to its ongoing partnership with Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte, which includes seminars, lectures, events and exhibitions open to the public, Palazzo Litta has become one of the most important venues where the cultures of craftsmanship and design meet. Fondazione Cologni will present its acclaimed programme "Arts & Crafts & Design at Palazzo Litta" as part of Milan Design Week 2023. From 18 to 23 April, it will be possible to visit five exhibitions exploring the dialogue between craft skills and project design.

1. Gianluca Pacchioni, artist and master artisan, will display his talent in the Richini courtyard with Time, a site-specific sculpture based on the theme of time that enhances the colours of a magnificent natural stone.

1. In the Esedra hall, designer Sara Ricciardi presents La Grande Bellezza, by Starhotels, handcrafted manufacturing and poetic design are the pinnacle of the project promoted by Starhotels which supports fine Italian craftsmanship in collaboration with Fondazione Cologni, OMA and Gruppo Editoriale.

1. In the Ducal apartment on the first floor, the Michelangelo Foundation, Fondazione Cologni and Living Corriere della Sera will present the seventh edition of "Doppia Firma", in which 24 couples of artisans and designers from all over the world express the value of their creative dialogues. Two of the couples are featured in the "Artijanus / Artijanas" programme, developed under the curatorship of Triennale Milano.

1. Bonacina 1889 will showcase its new collection Francis Sultana X Bonacina, furnishing accessories in woven natural fibres created in collaboration with London designer and decorator Francis Sultana, in the halls adjacent to the gallery on the first floor.

1. Also on the first floor, Creative Academy, Richemont Group's international design school, will present Zodiac, a tribute to "constellations" curated by Eligo Studio, resulting from the collaboration between the 20 students and Lodi-based master ceramicist Tonino Negri.

Palazzo Litta, the prestigious headquarters of the Regional Secretariat of the Ministry of Culture and a spectacular Baroque treasure chest in the heart of a historic district within the 5Vie network, which animates the fields of art, design and innovation.