Teatro Albers
The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation and AMO present: Teatro Albers a celebration of contemporary handmade design at Milan Design Week 2023, curated by Ambra Medda and Veronica Sommaruga
AMO is pleased to partner with the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation to present Teatro Albers, a celebration of contemporary handmade design.
Teatro Albers marks the launch of a new collaboration, that has seen the Foundation invite AMO to interpret and reproduce pieces from the archive in ways that make sense for the present day.
Through their teachings and art, Josef and Anni Albers transformed the way people see. Among their most influential beliefs: that experimentation is the object of education, and that you can go anywhere from anywhere.
“They were celebrants,” says Nicholas Fox Weber, Executive Director of the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation. “When I think of the design work that will be produced, to be in their tradition doesn’t mean to look like them, it means to have the same values”.
Brought together in recognition of a shared embrace of experimental and process-driven design, a new seating collection by London-based designer Marco Campardo’s will accompany live-weaving from Pisa-based master weaver Laura de Cesare. Also shown are large-scale woven panels, inspired by Anni’s room dividers created for her 1949 solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
“We’re determined to get living designers to reach back and take historically significant works as a point of departure for future design, forging new boundaries within the field, and creating work relevant to our continuously shifting environments,” says Ambra Medda, co-founder of AMO.
Teatro Albers takes place in the theater space of a nunnery and school, the Istituto Marcelline Tommaseo. Both Medda and Sommaruga attended this school as children, and those personal links – along with the educational aims of the exhibition – have granted access to this special space. Workshops and lectures in weaving, color theory, and the work of the Alberses will be offered to the students and visitors alike.
The Istituto serves as a perfect backdrop to explore the values of the Alberses and their commitment to education; and to spotlight the importance of knowledge exchange in the cultivation of handmaking traditions. The environment will be akin to one of a working studio – with moments of stillness, observation, dialogue, and making.
A portion of the proceeds will go to Le Korsa – a non-profit organization established by the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation – which is dedicated to supporting Senegalese institutions across healthcare, art, and education. For further information about the Foundation’s work in Senegal visit Le Korsa.
