FETISHISM
an inspirational exhibition
photo © Marie Taillefer / styling: Sergio Machado
During 2014’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Edelkoort Exhibitions will present an inspirational exhibition to express a newly emerging trend in design and culture…
Lidewij Edelkoort forecasts that we are heading towards a future where FETISHISM will merge the sensual with the primitive, espousing the animistic and the primal all at the same time. The Ventura Lambrate exhibition will illustrate these ideas through the form of an audiovisual installation and the display of several design objects. Edelkoort explains this emerging phenomena: “Humble everyday objects can attach us to a different place, another time or an alternative state of mind. Our smartphones and tablets could therefore be considered fetishes too. After all, the word ‘fetish’ harks from West Africa, therefore, a more primitive aspect of the current mania for Africa is fitting and to be expected. Colouring style brown instead of black.”
Curated by Edelkoort and Philip Fimmano, FETISHISM will include several works from Pepe Heykoop’s Skin Collection, instinctive garments by Femke Agema, primal installations by Brynjar Sigurdarson and a new fetishistic chair by Rodrigo Almeida. The event will launch Edelkoort’s latest books: LUSCIOUS, a Bloom book focusing on Brazil as a source of design inspiration, and FETISHISM IN FASHION, exploring the influence of fetishism on design and culture.
The contemporary fetish movement in design and fashion previews objects that will become animistic and ritualistic, layered with another strength or energy – embedding them with a soul. Edelkoort explains how design can acquire an anima: “No longer just a thing of the past, animism will become an opening to the future. A belief system that enables us to find the presence of spirit in a process, feel aura in an object, and sense soul in design. An energy to adore and with which to embrace multiple sources of inspiration, to layer hybrids and herald mobility in a world that will therefore become more nomadic. The experience is the message, and the road ahead offers the promise of transformation.”
Address: Via Ventura 15, Milan, Italy
Opening hours: Tuesday – Saturday, April 8 – 12, 2014 from 10 AM to 8 PM – Sunday, April 13, 2014 from 10 AM to 6 PM
Transportation: MM 2 (green line) or bus #81