Unseen Collaborations

Building on the theme of the London Design Biennale, the exhibition highlights the processes of cooperation, reuse of artefacts, and interpretations of production cycles by reflecting an object’s end of life. The project, based on research conducted in the Triennale archives, highlights the collaborative processes behind the design of furnishings and interiors for Italian motor vessels and ocean liners in the first half of the 20th century. Conceived as authentic traveling exhibition pavilions, these projects played a crucial role not only in the inception of Italian design but also in presenting Italian design, artistic, and manufacturing culture to the world. By adapting this concept to a room inside Somerset House, the exhibition resembles a reconstruction of an insidious and disturbing interior, made up of works and objects that map out and represent this particular form of collaboration, expressing a variety of circular and unseen mechanisms. On display are works and site-specific installations by artists Liu Xiadong, Philippe Tabet, Melania Toma, and Davide Trabucco.