– Launched in 2016, Oui Design is a program developed by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and its partner foundation FACE, that aims to foster creative exchange in the sphere of design between France and the U.S.
– It is the first program initiated by the French Embassy to support fruitful and durable partnerships between design professionalson both sides of the Atlantic.
– Previous editions included a Robert Stadler exhibition at the Noguchi Museum, a matali Crasset exhibition at WantedDesign Brooklyn, collaborations on talks and screenings with the Cooper Hewitt Museum and the Museum of Arts and Design, the ambitious “Transatlantic Creative Exchange” developed with WantedDesign, featuring innovative French-American duos (such as a collaboration between Constance Guisset and Uhuru, Ligne Roset and Marc Thorpe, among others), school exhibitions and workshops…
This year, Oui Design will present the following projects:
1/ A focus on French women designers and color:
– A new commission of Camille Walala who will be transforming a wall of the seven-story Brooklyn building of Industry City with her vibrant colors and bold geometric patterns. The biggest commission she has undertaken in New York, and the largest façade she has reinvented anywhere.
Industry City (Wanted Design): 220 36th St, Brooklyn, NY 11232, USA
-Exhibition of French women designers, COULEUR, curated by Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat, cofounders of WantedDesign. The show will question the treatment of color in design. Exhibitors are: emerging French designer Pernelle Poyet, recipient of the 2016 Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Prize of the Design Parade; French-Swiss designer Julie Richoz who experiments with various ways of composing emptiness and sense of depth through her design works and seeks to investigate the perception of space; and 2010 Grand prix de la création de la mairie de Paris Ionna Vautrin. The exhibition will provide viewers with a unique opportunity to discover French’s sensible exploration of color.
Industry City (Wanted Design): 220 36th St, Brooklyn, NY 11232, USA
2/ Celebration of Azambourg’s iconing Douglas vases in partnership with Brooklyn Glass:
– On the occasion of the 10-year-anniversary of the Douglas vases, collaboration with glassmakers from Meisenthal, François Azambourg, and glassmaker and designer Leo Tecosky and the Brooklyn Glass studio to create a variation series of the Douglas Vase, “made in New York.” The resulting pieces will be displayed at WantedDesign Brooklyn, along with the original series produced at CIAV and documentation about the process.
Industry City (Wanted Design): 220 36th St, Brooklyn, NY 11232, USA
3/ Looking at the future – sustainable development in design:
– Collaboration with EnsAD (National School of Decorative Arts) – As part of EnsAD’s ongoing project Bamboo for Paris, ten students participated in a workshop on the promotion of bamboo as an eco-friendly material of the future. Part of Conscious Design at WantedDesign Brooklyn, the exhibition will showcase innovative design projects and products from around the world that not only push the boundaries of our creativity, but also embody our shared responsibility in protecting the ecosystem.
Industry City (Wanted Design): 220 36th St, Brooklyn, NY 11232, USA
– Design Schools Workshop: Art Center College of Design’s Professor of Environmental Design, James Meraz and Faculty Chiara Ferrari will lead at WantedDesign Brooklyn the 2018 workshop to be attended by a group of students from International design schools—including French Strate, School of Design, following the ENSCI’s participation in 2016 and 2017. The selected finalists will present their concepts to a jury of prominent design professionals at WantedDesign Manhattan on May 22nd.
More information: http://frenchculture.org/events/7785-oui-design-2018
4/ Oui Design’s partnership with the Noguchi Museum sheds light on Valérie Malteverne:
The program is supporting a new exhibition developed in partnership with Valérie Maltaverne at the Noguchi Museum. The exhibition will be on view until January 27, 2019 and is part of a duo show which explores Noguchi’s Akari light sculptures:
Exhibition #1: Akari: Sculpture by Other Means will include some 60 lamps, representing about forty individual models, as well as a substantial selection of archival materials; exhibition #2: Akari Unfolded: A Collection by YMER&MALTA a selection of 26 Akari-inspired lamp designs created by this innovative French design studio founded and led by Valérie Maltaverne.
– Akari Unfolded exhibition designers (bios available separately) are:
– British industrial designer Sebastian Bergne, known for transforming everyday objects into extraordinary pieces through his thoughtful approach to design.
– Océane Delain (lives and works in Paris). A designer principally working with TechShop, a firm specializing in digital fabrication.
– Benjamin Graindorge (ENSCI). Worked with companies such as Ligne Roset, Artuce, and the publishing house Moustache.
– Design firm nendo (founded in 2002, based in Tokyo and Milan). Founded by designer Oki Sato, has worked on projects including lighting and product designs for Flos, Louis Vuitton, Sèvres.
– French artist, designer, and art historian Sylvain Rieu-Piquet. Master of traditional techniques, Rieu-Piquet does not hesitate to experiment with new technologies in order to grasp an idea or inspiration, and to translate it into something new without distorting its original force.
– On May 11, during the NYCxDESIGN week, a guided tour of the exhibition and a talk will be organized with Valerie Maltaverne, director of YMER&MALTA along with Noguchi Museum curator Dakin Hart
Noguchi Museum: 9-01 33rd Rd, Queens, NY 11106, USA
More information: http://frenchculture.org/events/7242-ymermalta-noguchi-museum
5/ Additional Oui Design projects for 2018 include:
-During NYCxDESIGN, a collaboration between MoMA Design store and La French Tech, to exhibit and sell a selection of over twenty of France’s most innovative new technology products, from travel and audio to gaming and children’s toys. The full collection will go on view and be available for sale starting May 10 at the store’s Soho and Midtown locations as well as online at store.moma.org. On May 17, a panel discussion bringing together French entrepreneurs and business leaders will take place at the store.
–“NO TASTE FOR BAD TASTE so Starck, so Bouroullec…so le French Design,” a touring exhibition (Chicago, NYC, Miami, and Los Angeles 2017-2020) produced by VIA (Valorization of Innovation in Furnishing) and the Institut français. It will feature 40 masterpieces of the 21st century in a poetic scenography by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. Participants include Floriane de Saint Pierre, Pierre Yvanovith, Alain D’iribrane, Lorenz Baumer, Yann Kersalé, Chantal Thomass.
IFCC, Javits Convention Center, 655 W 34th st., May 20-23, https://lefrenchdesign.org/en/
CONTACT
Camille Desprez, Press Attaché, camille.desprez@diplomatie.gouv.fr, 21