Italian
All in one word, which, thanks to its dual meaning, pleasantly draws us into two microcosms, where wearing or occupying and living in a place become affinities not only in terminology but also in philosophy, between aesthetics and space
At the Salone del Mobile in Milan, the project is also a way to read time. It is in this space that ABITO is inserted, the exhibition promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and curated by Palomba Serafini Associati, which relates fashion and design to tell, through objects and garments, how society changes and with it the way of living and inhabiting.
Participation in the Salone del Mobile in Milan is part of an ongoing dialogue between the Farnesina and the Salone, a path that looks beyond national borders and recognizes this platform as a focal point for the diffusion of Italian design culture. From this perspective, the exhibition is not limited to the Milanese exhibition space, but is conceived as the beginning of a journey: an itinerary that will traverse the Italian diplomatic and cultural network – Embassies, Consulates, and Italian Cultural Institutes – bringing with it, to the world, the value, forms, gestures, and visions of Italian design.
The title already contains a subtle tension: dress as what one wears, but also as a way of inhabiting the world. From this ambivalence arises a journey that spans the twentieth century to today and finds in the body and space two surfaces of storytelling. At the center, the evolution of the role of women, who through the change in clothing makes visible a deeper transformation: the conquest of movement, public space, and a new posture in the world. At the same time, objects and domestic environments also transform, adapting to new gestures, new freedoms, and new ways of life.
The exhibition path develops through historical periods, creating a continuous dialogue between clothing and design objects. The garments, coming from the Quinto Tinarelli Collection, span over a century of history and carry with them the concrete trace of time; alongside them, furniture and Made in Italy objects still in production restore the ability of design to endure and traverse eras without losing meaning. Connecting these levels, a sequence of photographic images constructs a visual background that amplifies the narrative and makes tangible the passage between the different seasons of collective life.
As curators Ludovica Serafini and Roberto Palomba emphasize: “In comparison, objects of Made in Italy design still in production that recall the evolutionary path of Italian design, and garments that, unlike design, follow the seasonality of fashion. For this reason, the exhibited garments take on the value of precious testimonies of a specific historical and cultural moment. A way to preserve the collective memory of these objects, which remain important expressions of Italian culture and creativity.”
This comparison reveals a fertile tension: on one side, the permanence of design, and on the other, the ephemeral nature of fashion. It is precisely in this distance that the meaning of the exhibition is constructed, where each garment becomes a living trace of a specific time and each object measures the possibility of the project to traverse time, providing the visitor not only with a sequence of forms but a true experience of Italian cultural transformation.
Photo credit by – The furniture fair
