V Biennale Oggetto Libro
ADI DESIGN MUSEUM Milan
Curated by Susanna Vallebona
From October 11 to 30, 2023, the ADI DESIGN MUSEUM in Milan will host the 5th Biennial “Oggetto Libro”.
The international exhibition features 140 authors from 20 different countries on 3 continents. The exhibition features 170 works including artist’s books, design books and hybrids.
OGGETTO LIBRO is an opportunity to reflect on two seemingly distant worlds, that of design and that of art, which find their raison d’être in creativity.
Artist’s books represent an amazing example of how a book can take on the most unexpected forms. Made with all possible materials and techniques, these works take the form of true artifacts in the form of objects or sculptures. This year’s exhibition devotes an important part to creations on fabric, emphasizing the vitality of fiber art, an artistic current born in the 20th century that employs yarn and textiles to express its poetics. Also featured in the exhibition are some volumes from the Librartis Collection of the Giuliano Briganti Library, Fondazione Antico Ospedale Santa Maria della Scala di Siena.
Design books, offered by this international selection, are the spokesmen of the variety present in the world of design. Next to the book that represents a status of elegance and value, made with technology and refined care, in the exhibition we find works whose content imposes original forms, making the book a witness to the creativity (and innovation) of a given culture. As evidenced by the large number of books from the German school.
Between the two categories, in an attempt to bring order to the multiform world of the artist’s book, the Biennial includes a section of books that we call hybrids , which combine the distinctive elements of artist’s books and design books. Made through the use of any printing technique, from traditional intaglio to the most current experiments, such as risographic printing or the use of augmented reality, they have a long and glorious history, as evidenced by the success of publishers such as Giorgio Upiglio or Alberto Casiraghy.
Also new this year is the Best Book Competition, which awards the best book in each category-design, artist, hybrid-as well as the best video. The jury of the competition is composed of prominent figures from the world of art and design: James Bradburne, Director General of Brera, Maria Dina Pontone, former Director of the Braidense National Library, Umberto Cabini President of Fondazione ADI, Associazione Disegno Industriale, Armando Milani designer, Past president AGI, Tai Yuhkuo co-founder of the motion design studio Alkanoids and Susanna Vallebona, curator of the initiative. The winners will be announced and awarded on Oct. 11 at the opening of the exhibition at the ADI Design Musuem.
From Oct. 6, the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense, a historic partner of the event, celebrates Object Book with an event dedicated to the great printmaker Giorgio Upiglio 10 years after his death, with the very special book, “Mit Sophie in die Pilze gegangen” texts and engravings by Günter Grass.
Alongside this work are the artist’s book, “Pages” by Alberto Ghinzani, a sculpture in sheet metal, cement and marble dust, and the unobtainable first edition “New York: the new art scene” by designer Michele Provinciali, with photos by Ugo Mulas and texts by Alan Solomon. The works can be enjoyed during Library opening hours until Oct. 26.
Innovation and interaction are also for this edition the keywords of the event thanks to augmented reality and the partnership with Alkanoids that offers with the free APP “Aria The Ar Platform,” the opportunity to access all the additional content of the books on display offering the public a dynamic, exciting and inclusive experience. As usual, the exhibition will be accompanied by a prestigious catalog, itself a design book, printed by Presspoint Milano on Fedrigoni paper, sponsor of the initiative.
As usual, the exhibition will be accompanied by a prestige catalog, itself a design book, printed by Presspoint Milano on Fedrigoni paper, sponsor of the initiative.
Innovation and interaction are also for this edition the keywords of the event thanks to augmented reality and the partnership with Alkanoids that offers with the free APP “Aria The Ar Platform,” the opportunity to access all the additional content of the books on display offering the public a dynamic, exciting and inclusive experience. As usual, the exhibition will be accompanied by a prestigious catalog, itself a design book, printed by Presspoint Milano on Fedrigoni paper, sponsor of the initiative.
As usual, the exhibition will be accompanied by a prestige catalog, itself a design book, printed by Presspoint Milano on Fedrigoni paper, sponsor of the initiative.
Oggetto Libro
Founded in 2016 and hosted at La Cavallerizza in Milan, a prestigious venue of the Braidense and FAI, it is an emanation of the XXI Triennale di Milano with the theme “Design, after Design,” Oggetto Libro aims to take visitors through the ways in which design and art work and discover through differences and affinities the enrichment that comes from comparison.
Now in its fifth year, the initiative has received numerous awards, including the 2018 Compasso d’Oro Honorable Mention, the DNA Paris Design Awards 2022, the Gold Stellar 2022, the Graphis Silver Award Poster 2023, and the Graphis Silver Award Design 2023.
Since 2020, the event has introduced the use of augmented reality to complement the enjoyment of the works exhibited and published in the catalog.
Susanna Vallebona
In 1981 Susanna Vallebona, visual designer, opened the Esseblu studio through which she carries out consultancy work for Italian and foreign companies, develops projects for publishing, and deals with all aspects that make up the coordinated image of the company and product. He designs, together with Giancarlo Iliprandi and Ino Chisesi, the coat of arms of the Province of Milan and the coordinated image program, selected at the Design Index ADI 1999-2000. Launched at the end of 2001 the publishing activity, signed Edizioni Esseblu, dedicated to the publication of visual books.
He is artistic director of SBLU_spazioalbello, which he opened in 2007 to give free rein to his passion for art. An ADI (Association for Industrial Design) member, she is a member of the ADI Lombardy Board and of the ADI Design Index Communication Design Commission.
SBLU_spazioalbello is a nonprofit association with the aim of spreading visual culture,to provoke doubts and move questions in the field of the search for beauty, to recover the ability to build an ethics of beauty.
To achieve this goal it proposes initiatives and exhibitions that involve the general public, such as Lapis Ludica at the Palazzo delle Stelline in Milan. Or the multi-year multidisciplinary project “Not of bread alone” dedicated to design, art, music and poetry, which, under the Patronage of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Expo 2015 took the form of numerous group exhibitions, the biennial review “Feed your mind,” a site-specific installation at the Mediateca Santa Teresa in Milan and 8 cultural meetings.