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As proclaimed at the fortieth session of the UNESCO General Conference in 2019, World Art Day promotes the development, dissemination, and appreciation of art globally. It aims to harness the transformative power of art, celebrate its capacity to inspire, educate, and connect people and communities across the world, and offer fresh perspectives on contemporary society. Additionally, it honors the contributions of artists who have profoundly shaped the understanding of life and human experiences throughout history.
This celebration occurs on a special date, April 15th, with Leonardo da Vinci marking the birth in 1452 of one of humanity's most extraordinary geniuses. A polymath whose expertise spanned art, science, and technology, Da Vinci's forward-thinking, intuition, and innovative approach to knowledge continue to be celebrated and studied today.
Recent technological advancements have fostered an increasingly close dialogue between art and technology, creating an intriguing intersection where creativity and new languages merge in unexplored creative and cognitive spaces. Art consistently draws inspiration and finds its place in the signs, discoveries, and developments of each era. The advent of digital tools, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence is redefining new forms of artistic access and production, pushing the boundaries of imagination to new horizons.
The Arazzi Contemporanei Collection by i-Mesh is grounded in these considerations, embodying an original connection between art and innovation. These tapestries, symbolic in their significance and deeply aware of art history, are not merely works and platforms for storytelling and representation; they are the results of a creative process that demands imagination, study, and a deep understanding of materials and techniques. The fusion of artistic vision and production processes presents a challenging engagement for the collection's creators, who are diverse in generation, affiliation, style, and poetic perspective.
Each tapestry represents the collaborations between i-Mesh and designers, artists, performers, and engineers who have conceived unique works starting from the fundamental, radical, and visionary potential of thread and i-Mesh fabrics. These materials infused with qualities of uniqueness, personalization, and adaptability, form the basis for new shapes, colors, and textures, transforming designs into three-dimensional creations that challenge conventional textile art norms. i-Mesh's Contemporary Tapestries - which reference a broad term evocative of cultures and serve as anthropological and communal data - showcase the advanced properties of fabrics, by illustrating potential connections with different contexts and the integration with environments, architecture, and contemporary forms that inhabit this time.
An open and evolving Collection where each Tapestry tells its own story and offers a unique perspective; it is a journey that spans the realms of design and architecture, delving into the history of sensibilities and poetics alongside the languages and individuals who contribute to this collective project - Cristiano Toraldo di Francia, Migliore+Servetto Architects, Alberonero, Ippolito Fleitz Group, Graphic Surgery, Giovanna Latis, Rona Meyuchas Koblenz, Marco Ferreri, Pierpaolo Pitacco, Lis Beltran & Alberto Lievore, Salida Basica.
The project's history has marked significant milestones, both in terms of locations and collaborations.
In Milan, in 2018, during Design Week, an exceptional experience unfolded, showcasing the project's and Collection's potential within the fascinating post-industrial space of the historic Cova confectionery factory in the emerging and trendy NoLO area. The conceptual proximity with Alcova - directed by Joseph Grima, curated by Space Caviar and Studio Vedèt - in a transitory space displayed i-Mesh in its various and continuous metamorphoses, with the tapestries exhibited in vast spaces overtaken by wild and questioning vegetation, within an open/closed context amidst experimental design projects, galleries, institutions, and avant-garde companies. (Arazzi Contemporanei Milan Edition | Design © various authors | Photos © Sirio Vanelli)
In Rome, in 2019, the Tapestry exhibition provided an opportunity to explore the numerous "conceptual boundaries" tied to theories and practices of soft architecture. Soft, as a category of interpretation in the reflections of Gabriele Mastrigli and Manuel Orazi, Stefano Catucci and Federica Ottone, Cristiana Colli and Alessio Battistella, Dajla Riera and Margherita Manfra, and Giuseppe Grant. A variety of viewpoints spanning art, architecture, and urban planning. These views tested against environmental vulnerabilities set the premises for meaningful projects. (Arazzi Contemporanei Rome edition | Curated by Alberto Fiorenzi | Photos © Ilaria Ieie | Video © Alessio Hong)
In Como, in 2023, during the Lake Como Design Festival, prestigious venues - San Pietro in Atrio, Villa Salazar, Sheraton Hotel – hosted the event dedicated to the bimillenary of Pliny the Elder, which occurred in Como in 23 A.D, with Nature as the central theme of the program. Alongside the Tapestries were the mock-up panels created for Expo Dubai. This project gave rise to the largest dynamic installation ever made: nearly fifty-three thousand square meters of retractable coverings integrated within the urban fabric of Expo City in Dubai to manage the climate of the promenades welcoming visitors. Sustainability and Soft Architecture were the common thread that marked the Como experience, a business strategy, a mission also explored in "Softness. i-Mesh. Designing the city." the docu-film produced by i-Mesh, directed by Cristiana Colli and Francesca Molteni, was presented at the festival. (Lake Como Design Festival 2023 | Photos courtesy of © Associazione Wonderlake Como ets | Photos © Andrea Butti | Villa Salazar and Sheraton Hotel photos © Robert Mawdsley | Photo © Maria Butti (detail of the tapestry "Forte Fibra"))
Arazzi Contemporanei is an experience beyond spatial and temporal boundaries, representing not just a project but an evolution of the narrative and design plot of i-Mesh. A journey that began with Cristiano Toraldo di Francia, who inspired the original conceptualizations and created the “Istogramma” tapestry, a manifesto of Superstudio and a paradigm for the Collection.
"One cannot discuss innovation without addressing invention. Without the former, the latter would not exist," explained Alberto Fiorenzi, COO of i-Mesh and the inspirer of "Contemporary Tapestries" project. "The steam engine is undoubtedly an invention, while steam propulsion, which supplanted wind power (the sail), clearly qualifies as an innovation. What does this distinction entail? Invention necessitates one essential element: imagination, or the capacity to envision an activity beyond human natural capabilities or a function no machine has ever performed. Today, inventions frequently manifest in science fiction movies; during the Renaissance era, they originated from the mind of Leonardo da Vinci, who, among others, was an artist."
Alberto Fiorenzi,
COO of i-Mesh, and inspirer of the project “Arazzi Contemporanei"
