Allissand
BORDER CROSSINGS
“All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town”. In this short phrase, presumed to have been written in the late 19th century, Lev Tolstoj sums up a timeless and universal law: stories, all stories, whether personal or collective, begin with a movement, a journey towards somewhere or an arrival from somewhere.
All in all, a border crossing.
Architettura
Raul Pantaleo: “There are more things that unite than divide”
These are the words of the architect and co-founder of the firm TAMassociati, specialised in social and health projects in critical areas, in a blend of civil commitment and profession.
Francis Kéré: from Gando to Berlin (and back)
The winner of the 2022 Pritzker Prize connected the North and South of the world through architecture, the driver of his positive energy. He states: “We have to be optimistic, or we will not be able to build the world for tomorrow, making the present better”. Here are his reasons and his story.
Defending the soil. LAND research and projects.
Not just a vocation, but a commitment to LAND, the international landscaping consultancy firm that makes nature a driver of change.
Paolo Pileri: listening to the earth will save us
Even before plants, human survival relies on soil, as this is where all life comes from. The urban planning expert who chose to stand “on the side of soil”, as his last book is also entitled, explains why we should protect this incredible (and misunderstood) ecosystem.
Arte e Ceramica
Tommaso Corvi Mora, the happy foreigner
Tommaso Corvi Mora, of Italian origin, based on London with a contemporary art gallery (he too an artist), talks to us of the importance of feeling foreign, both in his gallery activities and as a creator.
Lola Montes: “I can find my place in the distance”
A US artist, Lola Montes set up her atelier in Sicily a few years ago. We met her to listen to her life story on the other side of the Atlantic and to better understand her artistic ceramic and painted art.
Giulio Saverio Rossi. Earths of light
A meeting with the author of "Il giardino di notte" to investigate his very personal use of rare earths and light.
Chiara Camoni. The earth remembers
Rare earths that are unique, coming from magical places and charged with memory. We talked of this and other things with the artist, who uses ceramics and terracotta to create magical presences, evoking stories to be told.
Identity, home, roots, borders, departure, return
Design
Nifemi Marcus-Bello: the African road to design
The Nigerian designer who returned to Lagos after training in Europe is one of the key interpreters of the local creative scene. A firm believer of the special practical intelligence of Africa, he strives to enhance all things local, from culture to production techniques.
Into the roots of design: the experimentation of Art Deco
In the Twenties, aesthetic codes borrowed from the avant-garde movements and technical progress went hand in hand to develop a new decorative language: stylised geometric patterns that immediately spoke to a wide audience. A dynamic and treasured expertise handed down by design.
Guglielmo Brambilla. Other clays
In an interview the designer tells us about the path that, through a residence in Finland, led him to understand in depth the many aspects of ceramics, starting from the wild clay of a Finnish lake.
The Paris Expo and the first hundred years of “Made in Italy”
The symbolic date representing the launch of the great economic and cultural “Made in Italy” phenomenon is certainly 1925, the year of the Paris Expo celebrating the height of the Art Deco movement. This is what happened.
News
Art as mediation. eL Seed and the ‘calligraffiti’
As old as Arab calligraphy and as modern as the hip hop culture, both abstract and figurative, the works of the Franco-Tunisian artist celebrate the dual cultural identity of their creator, spreading messages of peace.
Anna Maria Maiolino, migrating art
Repeated border crossings, from one side of the Atlantic to the other and on the American continent, are one of the privileged keys for interpreting the works of the Italo-Brazilian artist leading an exhibition in the museum in Paris dedicated to Pablo Picasso, another great “migrant” of art.
Classic càntirs: sixteen designers interpret the ancient Catalan jug
One, ten, eighty càntirs: the traditional terracotta jug with two mouths, famous for its ability to cool liquids and an emblem of the typical conviviality of Barcelona, is the focus of a series of artistic works. The curator Júlia Esqué tells us all about it.
The art of the underground: an investigation by the Louvre in Lens
In the northern French region scarred also physically by mining activities, the local antenna of the famous museum went “20,000 leagues below the earth”, investigating the artists’ relationship with the real and imagined universes hidden beneath our feet.