Design Miami/ Stages First Edition of Design Miami/ Podium X Shanghai - The Brand’s First Exhibition in China
Strong and varied exhibitions alongside a diverse range of digital and in-person programming was met with enthusiasm from local collectors
Shanghai, November 18, 2021 - The first edition of Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai has come to a close after a successful 10-day event with robust sales, signalling the strength of this new market. Presented in partnership with Made in House and co-hosted by Hantang Culture, Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai took place on the city’s historic Bund at No. 1 Wai Tan Yuan, coinciding with Shanghai Art Week. Curated by outgoing Curatorial Director, Aric Chen, and Deputy Curator (Shanghai), Violet Ruhui Wang, Design Miami/Podium x Shanghai welcomed five international gallery booths and 25 galleries as part of the curated selling exhibition concept, Podium.
Jennifer Roberts, CEO of Design Miami/ said: “This first edition of Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai has been a tremendous success thanks to the dedicated efforts of our partners Made in House and Hantang Culture and the high calibre installations presented by our gallerists and partners. We were also excited to be able to celebrate so many of the incredible Chinese designers that make this country such a rich design landscape and explore this further through the thought-provoking Design Talks program that continues to live on beyond the fair on our website, alongside shoppable collections and 3D tours of the exhibition”.
Chris Shao, founder of Chris Shao Studio&Objective, co-founder of Made in House said: “ Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai has infused international energy into Shanghai Art Week, providing a platform for Chinese artists and designers to participate in such an established forum with a truly global audience. Through this event, we pay homage to Chinese culture and history and are determined to continue to represent more undiscovered talents and untold stories. We have witnessed the tremendous support and love from local design and art lovers which makes me believe even more that art and design is a universal language. I am thrilled that Shanghai has become part of this movement!”
Aric Chen, Curatorial Director of Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai said: “As this first edition comes to a close, I am thrilled to have been a part of the inaugural Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai. Design Miami/ continues to be a world-leading platform not only for collectible design but also for innovation, education, and conversations about the lasting impact of our industry. It has been an exciting journey to bring the global forum for design to China and create a space for new discoveries and dialogues. I look forward to the future of this event!”.
Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai marks Chen’s last event in the role of Curatorial Director of Design Miami/, a position he inaugurated in 2018. He now takes up the position of general and artistic director of Rotterdam’s Het Nieuwe Institution.
Continuing Design Miami’s commitment to provide a broad hybrid event experience, all exhibited works on the show floor were available to purchase at designmiami.com for a limited time. Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai’s digital elements also included shoppable collections and 3D tours of the exhibition powered by Matterport technology and curated by thought leaders such as Wallpaper China and interior designer, gallerist and Made in House founder, Chris Shao.
BEST OF SHOW AWARDS PRESENTED BY POLIFORM/
- Best Historic Work/ George Nakashima Unique Print/Music Stand presented by Moderne Gallery
Unique design employing a dramatic piece of English walnut for the top. This custom design, based on Nakashima's music stands, was made for the clients in order to have a rotating display of Japanese woodcuts. Nakashima made it so that the height could be adjusted, so it can also be used as a music stand. George Nakashima only made a handful of music stands during his life, and as far as we can determine, this is the only one that he called a Print Stand.
- Best Contemporary Work/ Love Under Hammer by Lin Fanglu presented by Art+ Shanghai Gallery
Love Under Hammer pays homage to the bright cloth hand crafted by the ancient Dong minority. Inspired by her time living with the local Dong minority craftspeople who take time to hammer the abric countless times, Lin Fanglu took the material and used over 20 different methods including dying, hammering and hanging to create the final finish. The fiber, conventionally thought to be soft , looks hard, almost like tempered metal. It acts as a metaphor for feminism, shaped by the hammers of the craftswomen as though they were shaping their very life with the hammer in their hands.
- Best Contemporary Work - Innovation in Making/ Thomas Heatherwick Friction Table
The Friction table is the result of research by Heatherwick Studio into the way furniture can adapt to different spaces and needs. The design combines precision manufacturing with soulful materiality. Produced in collaboration with a team of makers using techniques developed in robotics and aerospace, as well as traditional expert handcrafting processes, it can transform from a smooth circle of 1.8 metres in diameter, able to seat eight, into an ellipse over 4 metres long. The table is made from aerospace grade polished aluminium and clad in leather by Bill Amberg Studio.
- Best Presentation/ PearlLam galleries
PearlLam Galleries is a driving force within Asia’s contemporary design scene. Founded in 2005, the gallery plays a vital role in stimulating international dialogue and cross-cultural exchange between the East and West.
- Rising Voice/ Zhou Yilun
Zhou Yilun’s oeuvre sprawls across a wide range of mediums, including painting, installation and sculpture. In his practice, he disassembles, rearranges and simulates to expand the possibilities of everyday materials, drawing inspiration from objects close at hand to construct a field that belongs to both the classics and the streets, prehistory and the future, and material ecosystems under different economic states, filling artistic creation with transgressive tones and balancing the aesthetic tension between the touch of the hand and industrial production.
DM/BX/
Visitors to Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai were also able to experience in-person DM/BX, the newly launched online shop by Design Miami/. DM/BX celebrated works by local designers, including a new collection of joyful ceramic sculptures by Pan Wangshu and furniture pieces by Taiwanese designer Yu Jui Chou that explore the versatility of bamboo. The DM/BX works displayed at Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai continue to be available to shop online, expanding the reach of these unique artists to Design Miami’s global audience.
TALKS PROGRAM/
For the first edition, Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai presented a diverse range of in-person and digital talks that looked closely at the collectible design market in the country as well as the wider landscape and emerging trends. Presented in the Design Talks theatre, the space was entirely furnished with Poliform products such as the iconic Mad Chairs and Mad Queen by Marcel Wanders Studio and the new Saint-Germain sofa, Le Club armchair and Orbit coffee tables by Jean-Marie Massaud.
Another Modern: Shanghai Art Deco - Presented by ELECTRO X
Moderated by Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai deputy curator Violet Ruhui Wang and featuring artists Ding Yi and Zhan Wang alongside Lisa Movius, China Bureau Chief of The Art Newspaper and Xu Yihong, Art Deco research expert, this first talk of the program retraced the origin of modern design in China. The panelists discussed the historical context and urban memory of this style – which originated in the West at the beginning of the last century, yet took unique cultural roots in Shanghai – and its inspiration for contemporary design.
From Object to Objectscapes: The Way of Collecting Design
What unique perceptions can collectible design evoke within a space? What are the connections and differences between collecting design and contemporary art? Moderated by Guo Jiacheng, Editor-in-Chief of Wallpaper China, this forum panel featured leading Chinese gallerists specializing in collectible design, Wang Yu (Gallery All）and Kyle Zhang (Gallery Sohe), and interior designer Ju Bin who explored the “ways of collecting design.”
PARTNERS/
Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades
At Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai, Louis Vuitton presented The Objets Nomades featuring Dolls chairs from Raw Edges Design Studio. Each chair is inspired by different cultures, heritage and traditional crafts from all over the world. Both the back and the surface of the chair can be individually "decorated." This collection fulfills Louis Vuitton's commitment to establish a new definition of "the art of travel" in home life.
Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council presented Irthi’s Series
Engaging with women artisans across the UAE, wider Middle East, North Africa, South and Southeast Asia regions, Irthi empowers them economically and socially through vocational training and upskilling programmes, ensuring the preservation of Indigenous craft heritage. At Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai, Irthi showcased the Irthi Series, a collection that makes everyday luxury a possibility through the creation of uniquely designed yet functional objects for the home.
Farah Nasri, Acting Manager Curation and Design of Irthi Contemporary Craft Council said “Design Miami is a leading collectible design platform that is renowned as a showcase for limited-edition and bespoke design and, as such, it is a formidable force of positive cultural exchange and connection. Its debut in Asia is a testament to the true global nature of the design community and presents a unique opportunity to connect with international and local design collectors, experts, and enthusiasts from across Asia. Irthi’s debut at Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai Design comes at a time when there is an ongoing realignment of values in the design market signalling a growing synergy between design, material experimentation and exploration, and an increasing shift towards a renaissance in craft and the handmade”.
Perrier-Jouet: Studio Metamorphosis bar installation
Maison Perrier-Jouët continued its collaboration with Italian designer Andrea Mancuso, presenting the Metamorphosis bar at Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai. Inspired by a visit to Perrier-Jouët in Epernay, this piece is an interpretation of that experience that aims to stimulate the curiosity of the viewer and interact with them by intercepting the familiar with the unexpected. The shape of the ceramic pieces in the structure recalls bottles maturing in the cellars, while the palette forms an image of the Perrier-Jouët vineyard during the harvest.
FENG J Haute Joaillerie
For Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai, FENG J Haute Joaillerie presented “A Window with A View,” a site-specific jewelry installation in collaboration with botanical art creator Bryant Lee, that explores the possibilities between jewelry and contemporary art and design. Inspired by FENG’s visit to Claude Monet’s Jardin de Giverny, this installation showcased pieces from “The Garden of Impressionism” collection, an homage to the master impressionist and his garden.
Louis XIII presented a collaboration with Yang Bao & Liu Wa
At Design Miami/Podium x Shanghai, LOUIS XIII presented an ever-changing visual soundscape designed by Liu Wa and Yang BAO. Two art pieces, Hear a Century Ahead and Organ Timer, were shown in the indoor and outdoor spaces. These works are inspired by the spirit of LOUIS XIII — “Think a Century Ahead". Fo
Tai Ping Carpets presents “The Whispers Series” by Danful Yang
Tai Ping teamed up with Chinese artist and designer Danful Yang to debut a new collaboration entitled “The Whispers Series.” The collaboration reinterprets signatures from one of Yang’s most lauded series “Packing Me Softly” in a fresh handmade format for Tai Ping. Yang’s playful cross-cultural works incorporate objects and materials in unexpected juxtapositions, blending craftsmanship with tongue-in-cheek modern aesthetics.
Poliform: Design Talks Theater
In addition to presenting the Design Talks Theater, Poliform presented a new installation at Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai dedicated to the photographic project “Time, Light, Space”: an exclusive body of work created by photographer Paolo Roversi in his journey into Poliform design and history. The installation within the Exhibition Hall encouraged visitors to “experience” the representation through an immersive gallery of images and videos stimulating a variety of senses rather than simply looking at a static object.
Poliform CEO, Giovanni Anzani said: “Design Miami/Podium x Shanghai was a good occasion to connect international and local collectors, interior designers and design enthusiasts, curators and galleries.. For us, our participation provided an opportunity to understand and dialogue with this new network of Chinese collectors, curators, designers and clients, bringing together different voices and introducing the company in a new way. We hope this first edition of Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai is just the beginning of a new approach for Poliform”.
Design Miami/ Returns to Miami Beach 1-5 December, 2021
The 17th edition of Design Miami/ will take place in Pride Park, opposite the Miami Beach Convention Center, from 1-5 December in Miami Beach, Florida. Exploring the theme of Human Kind, this year’s programming will spotlight design-led visions for a more equitable and interconnected future.
Exhibition highlights include the debut of Jeffrey Deitch at Design Miami/, presenting an exhibition of ceramic sculpture by a new generation of artists. Curated by Jeffrey Deitch New York gallery director Alia Williams, Clay Pop documents the reinvention of ceramic sculpture, a medium that has often been characterized as more craft than art is now an exciting platform for formal and conceptual innovation. Also new to Design Miami/ is New York gallery Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts who will showcase a collection of important design from the early 20th century including pieces by Edgar Brandy and Frank Lloyd Wright. Returning gallery The Future Perfect will present new works by emerging designers such as Bradley Bower, a talented young designer who joins their roster this December.
Amongst the Curio program, the largest line-up in Miami to date, the exhibitors are exploring new materials and imagined futures. First time exhibitor Bea Interiors Design from Miami blurs the boundaries between sculpture and functional design, pushing the limits of materials in unique and thought-provoking ways while developing organic forms. By merging materials into stunning structured assemblages, designer Bea Pernia mixes rocks and woods that add their healing energy to any space.
This year’s Design Talks will also expand to embrace the fair’s new hybrid format, offering the most extensive talks programme to date. In-person and digital talks will offer insightful and future-thinking panels from some of the world’s leading names in art, design and architecture including designer Daniel Arsham, architect Florencia Rodriguez, and artist and fashion designer Samuel Ross. Other highlights of the digital program include 3D curated tours and shoppable collections, as all exhibited works will be available to purchase online for a limited time.