Next of Europe
In the 2022 edition the studio signs the exhibition project for Next of Europe, the thematic exhibition curated by the gallery owner Jean Blanchaert: a review of the best art masters in Europe – authentic “living treasures” as they are defined in Japan – and their magnificent objects. The project is spread over two rooms communicating with each other, a cabinet de curiosities with more than 150 works on display, an audiovisual installation and the performances of the craftsmen at work tell the importance of preserving and passing on the art of European craftsmanship. In the first room, the audiovisual installation “INSTRUMENTS”, created by the Italian artist and director Davide Rapp, welcomes the viewer by immersing him in the combination of the sounds emitted by the tools used by the craftsmen. The projected video, composed of video extracts from the archive of the Cologni Foundation, combines the succession of images of hands at work with those of the tools at work transformed into unexpected musical instruments which, by progressive accumulation, define two alternating audiovisual montages as the music tracks on a single disc.
“In designing the setting in the Tapestry Room of the Cini Foundation, we thought of a space that was able to leave the visitor the freedom to move and live an instant and comprehensive experience of craftsmanship as possible. The video installation and the play of reflections created by the mirrors on the ceiling mean that it is the hands, the work tools and the craftsmen themselves at work that become the protagonists of the great room and tell, as in Jean Blanchaert's desire, the attention and dedication that every single object on display requires to be produced.” Stefano Boeri and Giorgio Donà
Through an opening, you enter the large exhibition hall inside which, handcrafted objects of various kinds, shapes, sizes and from all over Europe are collected within a large modular structure which, with its 70 linear meters, occupies the entire perimeter surface of the room. Thanks to the imposing structure that suggests to the visitor a visual approach as a collector and bricoleur, the productions are exhibited in their variety and complexity (as already happened for “Fiume Europa”, the installation designed in 2018 for the first edition of Homo Faber). At the centre of the room, distributed in no particular order, there are the positions of the craftsmen. Circular-shaped workbenches surmounted by mirrored discs that allow an amplification of the viewer’s perspective on the work table, where the performances of the artisans take place with the intent, as in everyday life, to practice their craft and to pass on the techniques and gestures and knowledge.
Project: Stefano Boeri Interiors
Client: Homo Faber – Michelangelo Foundation
Video: Davide Rapp
Photo: Paolo Rosselli
Year: 2022