The 23rd Triennale Milano International Exhibition has officially been opened to the public. The exhibition displays a selection of artwork and installations designed by approximately 400 international architects and designers, stating “what we do not know, we do not know”. This year’s exhibition is dedicated to presenting a new way of looking up at the world’s mysteries. This year’s theme looks like an opportunity to investigate and understand the subjects, from the origin of our conscience to the furthest universe to dark matters.
The president of the Triennale Milano, Stefano Boeri, explains that the 23rd international exhibition aims to be a prestige platform for dialogue and research. It aims to create opportunities for encounters and exchange involving designers, architects, artists, curators, collectives, schools, cultural institutions, museums, and research institutes representing all across the globe. The multiple points of view will provide us with a great opportunity to expand our graze to encompass what we do not yet know. At a time as dramatic and complex as the current, we strongly believe that it is more important than ever to promote and preserve the exchange of ideas, experiences, and reflections between different cultures and different countries.
The winner of the 2022 Pritzker Architecture Prize, Francis Kere, has designed the display installations in the common areas of Triennale and two installations were dedicated to the voices of the African Continent, which has a strong presence in the exhibition and is represented by six national pavilions, namely: Ghana, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Lesotho, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kere’s first project is a 12-meter tower at the Triennale’s entrance, which brings together the materials and images of that which has been and what is yet to come. The installation, titled Yesterdays Tomorrow, is at the centre of the International Participations section, which explores the vernacular architecture of Burkina Faso.
Kere designed the seating area for the Triennale’s common zones for the public as well as the installation under a coffee tree, made in collaboration with Triennale and Lavazza Group. The tree brings everyone together, which is extremely similar to how the coffee ritual unites different people from all across the world. Kere was also tasked by Burkina Faso, the country’s first participation in the international exhibition, with creating the drawn-together project, a wall where visitors are invited to recreate together.
Ersilia Vaudo, the chief diversity officer at the European Space Agency and an astrophysicist, curated a thematic exhibition. Located at the centre of the exhibition, the area’s boundaries are permeable, which allows more than a hundred installations to be on display. The installation addressed several themes, including gravity, regarded as “the greatest designer,” systems for determining trajectories and routes, maps, and the mysteries associated with deep space, as well as the new challenges confronting architecture. The thematic exhibition also includes four commissions by Irene Stacuzzi, an Italian designer; Yuri Suzuki, a Japanese designer; Refik Anadol, a Turkish American artist; and SOM, a US architects and designers collective.
Reinforcing the values of sustainability and refuse, the staging for the thematic exhibition designed by Caviar and created by Wasp, is entirely designed by 3D printing and produced in the spaces of Triennale by large printers on a massive architectural scale, using completely organic materials, largely derived mostly from the food industry.
The Ukraine Pavilion at the exhibition – Planeta Ukraine, is a multiple-site project in Triennale’s internal and external spaces. Curated by a writer named Gianluigi Ricuperati with the actress Lidiya Lieberman and the pianist Anastasia Stovbyr, the pavilion is designed to present an overview of contemporary Ukrainian culture, touching on several different disciplinary fields and cultural aspects.
Herve Changes and Formafantasma performed a mondo Reale Installation to provide an exploration of the real world, focusing on the wonders that inhabit the planet through the work of 17 international artists. Photography, painting, films and installations and sculptures explore reality as a reverie. proposing an experience with the aesthetics around knowledge and its erasure: is a straight emotional encounter with multiple visions of the unknown through the lens of science and art.
The exhibition is sponsored by Triennale in collaboration with Italy’s Ministry for Foreign affairs and International Aid with the Bureau International des Expositions and is open until the 11th of December 2022.
References:
- 2022. [online] Available at: <https://jnews.uk/the-23rd-triennale-milano-international-exhibition-opens-to-the-public-with-an-exploration-of-the-worlds-mysteries/>
[Accessed 25 July 2022]
