FONDAZIONE SOZZANI: FASHION DIALOGUES, FROM ARCHIVES TO NEW NARRATIVES

FONDAZIONE SOZZANI
Progetto: FASHION DIALOGUES: FROM ARCHIVES TO NEW NARRATIVES
Project Leader: Pablo Arroyo
Master in Fashion Communication & Art Direction a.y. 2021/2022

Industry Brief

Introduction

“An exhibition is in many ways a series of conversations. Between the artist and viewer, curator, and viewer, and between the works of art themselves. It clicks when an exhibition feels like it has answered some questions and raised even more.”

Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem

The project created in collaboration with Fondazione Sozzani is an outstanding opportunity to approach this methodology within one among the most interesting realities in Italy.

The Fondazione Sozzani was established in 2016 by Carla Sozzani and is dedicated to the promotion of culture through photography, fine art, applied arts and fashion. The Foundation has the patronage of Galleria Carla Sozzani and documents all public functions that the Galleria has supported over the past 32 years. The Foundation is committed the advancement of quality and aesthetic understanding of contemporary life through an expansion of knowledge of the history and presentation of both the applied and fine arts of the 20th and 21st century. Galleria Carla Sozzani situated in the inner courtyard of the industrial building at Corso Como N. 10. Over the course of the years, the Gallery has promoted enriched understanding of both the history of photography and both fine and applied arts as well as fashion and design of the 20th and 21st Century. More than 300 exhibitions have been held in Milan at the Galleria Carla Sozzani and then Fondazione Sozzani (about: 200 photography exhibitions – 30 photojournalism – 30 design -30 contemporary art – 10 fashion – 5 primitive art). More than 20 on tour exhibitions (Shanghai, New York, Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo). 5 exhibitions of the Fondazione Sozzani and Carla Sozzani Collection (Paris, Le Locle, Berlin, Naples, Madrid). More than 2.000.000 visitors over the years.

The student’s design process were led by Pablo Arroyo, photographer, art director and curator with a long and multifaceted experience in the field.

The main purpose of the project was the discovery of the “universe of curating” in its most cultured and artistic understanding to interpret fashion and its communication as a cultural tool and not just for marketing.

For those who want to work in this sector, it is essential to understand that communication passes through a curatorial sensitivity and the definition of creative thinking, the balance between one’s own design personality and the identity of life that is told is crucial.  Identifying a key message to be conveyed while respecting the object of the original narrative as well as the understanding which are both the concrete steps in the implementation of the project with a creative vision, are all the objectives of the project.

Students were asked, based on the actual brief and methodology, to develop primary and secondary research that examines the artists in question, a concise report aimed at summarizing and presenting the concept of the project relating to the implementation / organizational aspects of the exhibition, its storyboard / description, itinerary and a digital presentation containing the summary of the entire project. This expands from the analysis to the research, to the objectives / message, to the solution of practical issues, up to its realization.