Holy Handmade by Wallpaper
Themes of worship, ritual and the communal blessed the annual Wallpaper Handmade initiative to stimulate and reify craftsmanship.
Divine design was the order of the day at the eighth annual Wallpaper Handmade exhibition. Celebrating the epitome of craftsmanship as per usual, this year designers were tasked with ritual, worship and the communal as theme. The result was “a non-denominational temple to design, Holy Handmade!” wrote Anthony Joseph Francis Chambers, Editor-in-Excelsis of the illustrious magazine.
“Dogma, deism, devotion. Cult, creed and communion,” Chambers went on to describe the Milan exhibition as “a truly elevating experience. A non-denominational shrine to design, Holy Handmade! leads a ritual celebration of divine inspiration, high craft and the sacred union of miraculous materials, the maker’s mark and the occasional infernal machine.”
From an incense diffuser by Bloc Studios and Haeckels to a confessional veil by the Bouroullecs, from Yves Behar’s Ten Commandments to Tom Dixon’s cardboard sarcophagus, it was clear that designers engaged with the brief in a fun, even irreverent, manner. Towering over the exhibition was a collaboration between Snøhetta, Everything Elevated and Erik Jørgensen Møbelfabrik – Portal, a ladder made to seem infinite by punctuating the top and bottom with mirrors.
Other designers took the opportunity to reify materials, such as the Volcanic Ash Altar by Sabine Marcelis and Made A Mano, and the Dig Deep Offertory Bag made of distinctively cured leathers by Jamie Fobert Architects and Studioart.
Articles you also might like
Artisans have always told stories with their hands, bringing traditions, knowledge and place into their craft. This storytelling becomes even more critical when it’s done to preserve a culture in a time of war.
TLmag spoke to Antwerp-based collector Luc Haenen about his collection, which he has been building for nearly 25-years, and what he is looking forward to seeing this April at the 2025 edition of miart, the international modern and contemporary art fair of Milan.
For the 2024 Milan Design Week, contemporary artist Naoki Kawano presented “Skins Concept” a new project specially designed in collaboration with Pierre Frey.
Heritage(s) Surrealiste(s) was an exhibition curated by Jean-François Declercq for Milan Design Week and presented at the Baranzate Ateliers as part of the Fuorisalone.