OBJEKT 53

The world of interiors is in a state of tremendous flux. New initiatives are springing up everywhere. The Internet is the ideal tool with which to convey the design message: the amount of twittering, facebooking, linked-inning and other ways of conveying unfiltered data is beyond belief. It’s more than a 24-hour occupation to keep abreast with all the developments in interior design. And let’s hope that the unwary, square-eyed web-surfer can still see the wood for the trees.
Fortunately for people expecting the highest level of interior style there is OBJEKT©International, a veritable beacon in the turbulent Internet ocean of design.

Art in its many diverse forms is another essential element generating peace and contemplation world wide. Yet in many parts of the ‘civilised’ world, governments are taking a contemptuous approach in their cutbacks on culture – whereas art is an essential means of enriching life.

Abitare l’Utopia

Abitare l’Utopia, which is featured prominently in this edition of OBJEKT©International, is a prime example of such enrichment.
It is an exhibition by Alessandro Mendini marking 25 years of Abitare il Tempo in Verona. He juxtaposes objects with other objects, the aim being to provoke emotional, memory-based associations. Mendini’s hypothesis is that whatever is in danger of getting lost in our digital world, will make way for a new outlook on the future – a new utopia that replaces the old. Something that seems perfectly normal today had until now never been revealed. Mendini rejects the idea that architecture arises from the city. He is firmly convinced that architecture can only be generated from the human body, which he calls the centre of spatial experience. Once more evidence of Mendini’s interest in psychology – of which his Abitare l’Utopia is an illuminating example.

From Islamic to Oriental art

A further example is David Khalili’s approach to art. This businessman, who originally hails
from Iran, is one of the world’s major art collectors. His themed collections – from Islamic to Oriental art – comprise over 25,000 top quality objects. Khalili has made it his lifework to document all the artworks extensively in a series of academically-based publications. His spectacular collections are regularly exhibited in museums throughout the world.  In this production, OBJEKT©International focuses on part of his exceptional collection of Japanese works.

Dedon

In addition, there are also businesses that actively participate in cultural matters. The German company, Dedon, has an art foundation supporting a variety of artistic disciplines, and Kettal of Spain has even incorporated its own museum in the head office-cum-showroom in the Spanish city of Barcelona. There, Kettal mounts changing exhibitions of its large collection of contemporary works, which the owners – the Alorda family – have avidly assembled over the years. Art, not as decoration but as enrichment of life – that is the focus of this edition of OBJEKT©International.