Autore: merlinichiara

Milano Genius 2019 continues to propose high-quality artistic content and, since April is now approaching, Milan Design Week 2019 happens to be the next scheduled event .

Our project, organizedby the Italian Institute of Culture Osaka and coordinated by Asian Studies Group as far as Milan is concerned, will significantly take part during the Design Week from April 9th to April 14th thanks to the participation of a specially selected group of Japanese designers.

As already mentioned, Milano Genius works with Superstudio Group within the Design made in Osaka project, for one of the three themes of the event, the one named “Take a Seat”.

Differing from Cool Japan and Design and Planet (respectively presented at Corte dei Miracoli and ASG headquarters in Milan in the same period), Take a Seat deals with three seating artifacts created by talented Japanese artists,whose works have been selected by the organizers of the event. The three designers will then have the possibility to exhibit their projects within such a prestigious event as the Design Week.

The exhibition concerning Take a Seat will take place at the Superstudio Più location, in an area like the Tortona district, where Superstudio has given a vital contribution to its urban redevelopment, and the selected projects that will be available from April 9th are “Exist Chair” by Luna Naito, “Venation” by Mayumi Kuwayama and “With Bamboo” by A Chi x cosi = eco (formed by artists Akino Iida, Eko Yasuno and Koji Sakai).

The “Exist Chair” project has been developed by young Japanese student Luna Naito, who currently studies Design at the University of Osaka. Being her main aim that of creating artworks tightly connected to nature and capable of unconsciously attracting the audience, her project seems a sum up of her beliefs, thanks to a chair that recalls a big creature standing on its four legs.

In addition, the way in which it is constructed creates the illusion of the plane plate to be bent. With its simplicity in design and materials (maily wood) , the chair is not strange but still very noticeable. Also remarkable is the fact that for its assembly glues are not needed, allowing this project to be considered as an example of sustainable art.

As far as “Venation” by Mayumi Kuwayama is concerned, the main focus is the philosophy of “sustaining”. The veins in which energy is free to flow can become complex, they can sustain themselves and others too. The artwork’s theme is that  “A storm reinforces nature and all human beings are connected to nature through roots.” It doesn’t matter how strong and destructive the storm may be, the tree will always survive as human beings do. Beyond all difficulties and problems, our roots will become always stronger. Nature and human beings live together and they have been connected since forever.

The project, created using fiber of hemp and wire, shows Kuwayama’s experience in art installation and design object creation, works that she often presents in a variety of highly attended locations.

With regard to the third project, “With Bamboo” by artistic group A Chi x cosi = eco, it aims to be a piece of furniture for Landscape Design. This means that such designs are to be considered as elements that fit into the natural scenery, apart from being comfortable for our bodies. For example, bamboo forests are familiar or nostalgic for Japanese people.

In its structure, its continuing tall lines generate fresh air, allowing this project to be considered as something more than just a physical tool. Design should be friendly with nature, as well as nature is kind with human beings. The chair is also a “bamboo forest”, created with bamboo sticks from Wada city, that aims to represent a solution for the abandoned forests in Osaka.

A brief explanation of the selected projects is therefore needed to allow the audience to fully understand their deep meaning and the logic behind their creation. Only a careful observer will in fact be able to appreciate the beauty that Milano Genius 2019 and Design made in Osaka offer to us during the upcoming Milan Design Week 2019.

After the Italian Design Day 2019 in Osaka and its focus on design as an instrument for urban redevelopment and creative expression, our Milano Genius 2019 produced by Italian Institute of Culture in Osaka, continues to propose high quality content through a variety of cultural events concerning Contemporary Art, Theatre and Food in the months to follow.

More specifically, in April (on April 12^th)  the attention will be on the performance of Mistero Buffo, theatrical representation by Dario Fo and Franca Rame that, thanking collaboration with Italian Institute of Culture of Osaka will be reinterpreted at the Osaka Central Public Hall (municipality of the city) by theatrical company Fronda Anomala thanks to an innovative prospective that merges performative evolution and continuity.

The famous play by Fo and Rame recalls a tradition during which jesters used to wander from a city to another to narrate engaging stories with the aim of breaking, in some ways, traditional bonds connected to linguistic diversity while addressing an ever-changing audience too: rich and poor people, with different origins and traditions.  

The theatrical company Fronda Anomala, formed by Elisa Pistis, Diego Coscia and Lorenzo Tolusso, will interpret this old practice once again, with great energy but especially with an important moral to impart: bringing current messages to the public through universal and old stories.

The result of this recipe is a performance that not only entertains and moves the audience, but also makes people reflect through the simple use of hyperbolic language, mimic and gesture but, at the same time, avoiding the use of massive theatre props.

Another key factor that makes this representation so innovative is the way in which communication is conceived. As a result, Mistero Buffo by Fronda Anomala plays with different languages, from Piedmontese and Sardian to non-existing languages. However, the audience still perceives central concepts and feelings; the magic expressed by the actors will in fact  help them to prevent the main message of the play from being damaged. 

The location,bchosen for the representation by Italian Institute of Culture in Osaka, is another element that seems anything but random. Being the municipality of the city, this building represents a symbol for the entire Osaka (alongside Osaka’s castle) and it is often used to host cultural, artistic and social activities that help both visitors and performers to dedicate time and passion to culture.

Given such premises, Milano Genius 2019 continues its successful journey among culture, creativity and innovation. All that’s left to do now is wait and discover what is yet to come.

The municipality of Milan has granted Milano Genius 2019 its patronage, as an important and stimulating event that fosters occasions of comparison and cultural exchange between Osaka and Milan, whose strong bond of sister cities is further strengthened because of EXPO 2015 (in Milan) and 2025 (in Osaka).

Milano Genius is entirely supported by the Italian Institute of Culture in Osaka and co – ordinated by Asian Studies Group in Italy but, with the recent recognition from the municipality that officially supports and believes in its effectiveness,  it officially presents itself as an opportunity to enhance the privilege of the city in a foreign country like Japan.

Now what surprises the most is not only the concession of the patronage with which an authority like the Municipality of Milan has decided to support our project, but also the fact that the event will not physically take place in the Italian territory but in Japan.

As a result, according to the guidelines of the Municipality in terms of patronage concession, the municipal patronage can be granted in case of social, cultural, educational, scientific or touristic events that are able to promote the general image of the city within the international scenario.

Events like these should also prove to be socially relevant in terms of the history and the traditions of the city or to strengthen national and international relationships in different fields involved in their realization.

Consequently, such events are seen as opportunities that can significantly contribute to the growth and the enhancement of the local community, its reputation and its products.  

Exceptions to this rule are rare since they require a complicated procedure in order to  successfully obtain the patronage and only occur when the event does not physically occur in Milan but its realization still strongly benefits the city.

One of the very few antecedents that we can take as an example is that of the Leosphere, the wooden sphere inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s studies installed in Chicago in 2018 in occasion of the 45^th anniversary of the twinning status between Chicago and Milan.

As for Milano Genius, the cultural advantages that this manifestation can bring to Milan are numerous and enclose multiple artistic fields.

In fact, many events will take place in internationally- known locations such as the Osaka City Hall, the Knowledge Salon or the Swissôtel. Furthermore, the entire project focuses on the city of Milan and deals with Italian artists and performers, whose artistic, creative, photographic contents regard Milan as their primary object of promotion.

In the following months Milano Genius 2019 will have to prove its full potential through a variety of events and exhibitions during which selected artists will allowed to gain recognition and visibility in a foreign context but always representing the essence of their local culture, what creative contents Milan creates in fields like Art, Design, Performing Arts and Photography in the name of innovation and cultural exchange.