Dezeen Magazine

Dezeen to live stream Open Talks from Supersalone in Milan

Dezeen has teamed up with Milan's Salone del Mobile to live stream a panel discussion each day during Supersalone for its Open Talks series, from 6-10 September.

Taking place each afternoon at 3:00pm Milan time, the talks will cover topics including women in design institutions, radical design and design education and feature designers, curators and critics including Beatriz Colomina, Lilli Hollein, Aric Chen and Stefano Boeri.

The discussions are part of Open Talks, a series of daily talks at Supersalone curated by Maria Cristina Didero.

Supersalone 2021 curated by Stefano Boeri
The special edition of the furniture fair will see exhibits installed on walls instead of branded booths

This year's edition of Salone del Mobile, titled Supersalone, is curated by architect Boeri as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the cancellation of the 2020 edition.

Taking place in Milan in September rather than in its usual April slot, the special edition of the fair will feature products displayed on a series of parallel walls instead of in branded booths.

"I believe that this will be a way to take a risk in the right direction and demonstrate that the Salone is alive, that Milan is alive and that generally, our field is still dynamic and open to new conditions," Boeri told Dezeen in an interview earlier this year.

Stefano Boeri. Photo by Laila Pozzo
The 2021 edition of Salone del Mobile is curated by architect Stefano Boeri

The fair will be open to the public all week and visitors will be able to buy discounted products by scanning QR codes located next to products.

The schedule for the talks that will be streamed on Dezeen is below. For details of the full Open Talks programme, click here.


Who can say no to education?
3:00pm Milan time, 6 September

In this talk, architectural historian Colomina, curator Chen and professor of Design and Social Inquiry at Parsons School of Design in New York Anthony Dunne, will discuss The Lost Graduation Show. This exhibition at Supersalone will showcase 170 design projects by students from 48 design schools worldwide, who graduated between 2020 and 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Moderated by the show's curator Anniina Koivu, the panel will discuss the pressing topics and issues explored by the students in the show that are facing a new generation of designers.

Women within institutions
3:00pm Milan time, 7 September

Moderated by creative director and design consultant Tony Chambers, this talk will explore the experiences of women within design and art institutions. On the panel is the director of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg Tulga Beyerle, director of the MAK museum in Vienna Hollein and curator of contemporary design at the Smithsonian Design Museum in New York Alexandra Cunningham Cameron.

Foundations between design and charity
3:00pm Milan time, 8 September

Featuring a panel including Parley for the Oceans founder Cyrill Gutsch, chair of the Swarowski Foundation and Waterschool Nadja Swarovski, House of Today Foundation foundation director Cherine Magrabi Tayeb and design historian Libby Sellers, this talk will explore how the creative industries can help to find solutions to the world's biggest problems.

Today's radicals
3:00pm Milan time, 9 September

In this talk, designer Philippe Malouin and Italian design studio Formafantasma will speak to curator and movie director Francesca Molteni about what it means to be radical in today's design industry.

Architecture is not art
3:00pm Milan time, Friday 10 September

To round off the week, chief curator of High Line Art in New York Cecilia Alemani, will speak to artist Carsten Höller and architect Boeri about the relationship between architecture and art. The panel will discuss the ways in which the two disciplines relate to each other.

Salone del Mobile and parallel fuorisalone events will take place from 5 to 10 September 2021 in Milan. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.