THE SALONESATELLITE PERMANENT COLLECTION DEBUTS IN HONG KONG

Images courtesy of Salone del Mobile.Milano

Marking the 25th Anniversary

Yesterday, 11^th November, the opening ceremony of the SaloneSatellite Permanent Collection 1998-2024 Exhibition was held at the Arts Pavilion in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District. Showcasing more than 100 products presented over 25 years at SaloneSatellite, the exhibition gives an insight into the history of design and bears witness to Salone del Mobile’s focus on young talent.

Following the celebrations marking the 25^th anniversary of SaloneSatellite, part of the event’s precious Permanent Collection is now in Hong Kong for the SaloneSatellite Permanent Collection 1998-2024 Exhibition (11th- 21st November 2024). The exhibition features over one hundred pieces from over three hundred and sixty held at the Artwood Academy – ITS Rosario Messina Foundation Wood-Furnishing Training Centre at Lentate sul Seveso. These products have successfully made their way into the catalogues of the most prestigious design companies, after being presented as prototypes at the various editions of the event devoted to designers under 35. The exhibition, organised at the request of IDFFHK International Design Furniture Fair Hong Kong and the Designworks Foundation at the Arts Pavilion West Kowloon in Hong Kong, was curated by Marva Griffin Wilshire, Founder and Curator SaloneSatellite and ambassador of International Relations of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, with her team and the architect Ricardo Bello Dias, the artistic spirit behind all the SaloneSatellite installations from the first edition onwards, who also designed the layout and graphics, with the support of Hariadna Pinate, architect at Studio Bello Dias.

The inaugural preview for the press and the many guests, including government officials and international personalities, who came to celebrate this important moment of cultural and creative exchange between Italy and Hong Kong, was held at the Arts Pavilion. Emphasis was laid during the evening on the fundamental contribution made by SaloneSatellite, which has been a springboard for new generations of designers for over 25 years and which, in the close interchange between different cultural identities that takes place every year, represents a permanent platform capable of enabling new and fresh relations between countries and markets. Winnie Yue, founder of the Designworks Foundation and IDFFHK International Design Furniture Fair Hong Kong, welcomed the audience, followed by Kevin Yeung, Secretary of the Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism, who underscored the importance of promoting young design as a cultural bridge. Carmelo Ficarra, Consul General of Italy, then spoke, expressing his pride in this collaboration; Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, recalled SaloneSatellite’s pioneering role in supporting young creatives from all over the world, while Marva Griffin Wilshire celebrated the collection’s trip to Hong Kong as an opportunity to internationally showcase the talent of so many young people who had passed through SaloneSatellite and to show the world the creative wealth of young design.

Presented by Galleria

“Bringing part of the SaloneSatellite Permanent Collection to Hong Kong is a chance to showcase the work of many talented young designers and celebrate global creativity and the importance of innovation in design. It is a moment of cultural exchange that underscores the fundamental role of SaloneSatellite in valorising and supporting the new protagonists of international design, and is the best way to end a year of celebrations for its 25th anniversary,” commented Marva Griffin Wilshire.

The Arts Pavilion is located in the prestigious exhibition centre in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, which is also home to the M+ Pavilion designed by Herzog & de Meuron, and has become an emblem of the city’s Victoria Harbour. Against this prestigious backdrop, the designers’ ideas are reconfirmed by their transformation into “iconic” products, bearing witness to the creative, aesthetic, and design contribution made by the new generations to the evolution of design from the turn of the 21st century to the present day. Wood, glass, metal, textiles, cork, resins, no material is barred, including the most recent and innovative ones, and the same goes for processing techniques: from the most traditional to 3D printing. Objects and furnishings, large and small, illustrate the all-round flashes of brilliance and experiments spotted and appreciated by the most attentive entrepreneurs in the sector, or that have become the foundations for the professional development of some of the designers that have taken part in SaloneSatellite.

The Permanent Collection – set up in 2000 when the prototypes of the first SaloneSatellite designers started going into production and many of the designers began to donate pieces – illustrates the fruits of fortunate – and in many cases lasting – encounters between entrepreneurs and young talents, whilst also highlighting the large number of international designers who, from relative unknowns, have steadily made a name for themselves after using SaloneSatellite as a springboard, sometimes becoming entrepreneurs themselves. The list grows longer year by year and it is not easy to intercept every single successful project in the vast universe of design. But thanks to constant monitoring and direct reports from companies and designers, the collection is also being expanded and renewed with new donations. An important nucleus is formed by products created ad hoc in 2017 to celebrate the first twenty editions of SaloneSatellite, in the spirit of the event itself.

Given its educational scope, the collection is exhibited in the Auditorium of the Artwood Academy, a training institute for wood industry professionals created by the ITS Rosario Messina Foundation with FederlegnoArredo. Lentate sul Seveso, in Brianza, one of the driving districts of Made in Italy was a deliberate choice of location – and with this first exhibition abroad, the collection has now embarked on its travels.

SaloneSatellite Permanent Collection 1998-2024 Exhibition
Arts Pavilion, West Kowloon, Hong Kong
11-21.11.2024
Opening hours: 11 am to 7 pm