Design authors in Naples
After all design fairs were cancelled earlier this year, EDIT Napoli was the first event to take place since the start of the pandemic. This small-scale fair is turning Naples into the capital of a new design genre that is artisanal, transparent and has a strong focus on materials.
Originally published in: WOTH Magazine, November 2020 (see pdf below). Text & photos by Liza Karsemeijer.
It’s a rainy October afternoon when I stroll past the small trattoria’s and antique shops of Naples’ centro storico and San Domenico Maggiore’s old courtyard. The 13th-century dwelling, with its original frescoes and marble doorframes, is the impressive backdrop of EDIT Napoli, a design fair focused on independent creators and design authors. When I enter, the girl behind the counter asks me to write down my contact details: obligatory COVID precautions. The fair’s fate was unsure for quite some time: this year’s edition was originally planned for June, but the founders were forced to postpone it.
With a healthy dose of caution and keeping my distance from the other visitors, I enter the first part of the exhibition. Founder Domitilla Dardi understands my initial reluctance. ‘When I was on the train from Rome to Naples, I was feeling very nervous. A million thoughts crossed my mind: I have to wash my hands a lot, I should wear two masks to be extra safe.’ But when she entered the monastery, she felt everything falling into place. ‘Just the realisation that we managed to pull it off, even in these strange times, gave me a lot of courage.’ Her business partner Emilia Petruccelli looks at the situation in a more pragmatic way: ‘We took all necessary precautions. This is our new reality, so we better learn to live with it.’ The exhibition has been set up with a single-direction flow, sanitising spaces, masks and gloves at the ready when you enter, and more space between the participants compared to the previous year. Thanks to these safety measures, the atmosphere is surprisingly relaxed.
Focus on materials
One of the first faces I see is a familiar one: the Amsterdam-based Milla Novo is presenting her handmade wall hangings to the Italian public this weekend. She’s the only Dutch designer that has managed to physically be in Naples. ‘With all the other design events being cancelled, I wanted to make sure to present my work here,’ she explains. Domitilla approached her personally and asked her to participate. ‘I felt honoured: I’m very impressed with the work of the other designers.’ As I continue through the monastery, I come across Luisa Longo’s colourful painted fabrics and Lucia Massari’s collection of upholstered stools. Longo has a workshop in Rome where she paints on precious fabrics, while Massari worked together with a family business specialised in upholstered furniture. Domitilla: ‘Apart from craftsmanship, the common thread is transparency. Ask a random designer at the fair, ‘where does this wood come from?’ and he’ll be able to give you the exact answer.’ I decided to put her statement to the test and ask architect Gae Avita about the materials he used. ‘I’m from a village close to Naples, where buffalo mozzarella is packaged in expanded polyester. I found out that the material is perfectly suitable for the furniture industry as well.’ He used coloured boards of polyester to make a chair.
While strolling, I noticed a focus on materials in other works as well. Following the current zeitgeist, northern Italian company De Castelli, with four generations of experience in metal surfaces, presented three new designs in copper, a naturally antibacterial material. Every time you touch a copper surface, you automatically sanitize your hands. About a ten-minute walk away from the monastery, in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Andrea Anastasio presents his work for Ceramica Gatti 1928. He dove into the brand’s archives, using antique designs, techniques, and materials to create new pieces. A collection of copper-coloured vases wrapped in bright pieces of rope, for example. ‘I selected designs from the early 1900s and combined them with coloured ropes to evoke an Art Nouveau aesthetic,’ he explains. His work makes for an interesting contrast with the backdrop of art from the fallen city of Pompeii.
City of artisans
The exhibition in the archaeological museum is part of EDIT Cult, a new fringe program at various cultural institutions. ‘It’s our way to give something back to Naples,’ says Domitilla. She and Emilia didn’t choose the southern-Italian city by chance: Emilia is a Naples native and Domitilla did her PhD here. ‘We want to make Naples the capital of a new genre characterized by artisanal design in small series,’ Emilia explains. Traditionally, Naples is a city of crafts: the Capodimonte porcelain is world famous, Neapolitans have been buying their tailor-made suits and ties at small family-run ateliers for generations, and the world’s best pizza makers still come to Naples to learn the tricks of the trade. Emilia: ‘It’s incredible how much value for money you can get here: with only 10 euros in your pocket, you can eat like a king. In Milan, you can’t even get an antipasto with that money.’
A nice plus is that Naples’ centro storico, like EDIT, is relatively compact. There’s no running around from one neighbourhood to the other and getting stuck in traffic just to see everything: I leisurely stroll from A to B and stop along the way to drink an espresso. ‘Don’t you want to stay a little while longer?’ The barista asks me as I pay for my drink. ‘There’s no rush.’ It’s in the Neapolitans’ DNA: taking your time for whatever you’re doing, whether it’s drinking a cup of coffee or designing a piece of furniture.
