15/05/2012

Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize 2012

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Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize 2012

Sigurd Bronger is a Norwegian jewelry engineer working in Oslo, Norway, and today at 11am he was announced as the winner of 2012 Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize at Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg, Sweden. The objective of the prize, which was founded in 1992, is to award, promote and encourage Nordic design, fashion and artistic work, as well as strengthen the Nordic values on the field. The prize and its committee also contribute to the work of further deepening the collaborations between the Nordic countries.

With heaps of solo- and group exhibitions all around the world, several design awards, a long bibliography and by appearances as professor, guest speaker and workshop leader from Stockholm to Tel Aviv, Sigurd Bronger has made name for himself in the jewelry sphere. He is a designer who works with delicate details referencing to the early 20th century’s mechanical industrialism. An era in which the objects revealed their functions -unlike the digital systems of today- and could be stripped down to their bare essentials where every fascinating part of a former machine could be enjoyed. His pieces play with humour and materials, and even though they are an allusion to a ‘boy’s dream’ with gearwheels and precision mechanism, his jewelry is somehow gender crossing.

In Sigurd Bronger’s world, time itself is treated as a material, and he only creates about three or four new pieces a year. The selection of precious metals, brass, diamonds and wood is carefully done, and later genuinely worked over. The designs, which are presented in remarkable hand-made packaging, take the viewer back to an early industrial design language and to the innovations of the Renaissance, without letting go of future visions.

“When I look at and touch Bronger’s jewelry, I feel like a young boy at a funfair or caught up in a wonderful mechanical fairytale world – I forget everything else around me. Sigurd Bronger’s design art changes my perception of what is possible”, says Ted Hesselbom, who is the head of the prize committee.

Sigurd Bronger will, besides an exhibition at the Röhsska Museum, be awarded with SEK 1.000.000 -which at the moment is the highest design prize in the world- decided by a jury consisting of representatives within design and fashion world in the five Nordic countries; Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. Previous winners of the Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize are, among others, the noted Finnish designer Harri Koskinen (most famous for his Block Lamp, exhibited in MoMA in New York) and Danish fashion designer Henrik Vibskov, a 2001 Central Saint Martin’s graduate.

Lisa Olsson Hjerpe – Image courtesy of Röhsska Museet

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15/05/2012

Fotografia Europea 2012

Fotografia Europea 2012

The opening weekend of Fotografia Europea 2012 just closed down. As every year the big festival, thanks to its full program of exhibitions, conferences, talks, workshops and performances, turns Reggio Emilia in a centre for professionals and photography lovers worldwide. The core theme of this 7th edition entitled Vita comune: immagini per la cittadinanza (Common life, images for the community of citizens) tackles the issue of living together, wondering which is the meaning of being a citizen in an era when the boundaries of nations are more and more blurred.


With the photography as common language and fill rouge of all the events scattered around the city, Fotografia Europea 2012 tells stories through the analysis of four different perspectives. Four paths summed up in four key topics: “Change”, “Common places”, “Participation” and “Differences”, which aim at charting the idea of new communities, encompassing a new sense of belonging, born from the encounter of natives and migrants who share and generate a certain culture.

At Chiostri di San Pietro, Igor Mukhin (b. Moscow, 1961) in his show La mia Mosca depicts the Russian youth during the historic turning-point of their country through the use of B/W images; while in the same location, Federico Patellani (“E’ nata la Repubblica”) and Massimo Vitali (“All together”) with different approaches show places where usually people join each other – the schools after the Second World War of the former and the crowded beaches of the latter are examples of cohabitation.


Concerning the concept of participation we cannot avoid naming the exhibition Un’idea e un progetto. Luigi Ghirri e l’attività curatoriale, which retraces the curatorial activity of Luigi Ghirri, displayed in Reggio Emilia also at the show A Luigi e Paola Ghirri. Fin dove può arrivare l’infinito?, where visitors can admire the last – and plenty of poetry – shot by the great Italian master.

To underline the importance of defying convention and celebrating the differences, the festival presents a group exhibition, which conveys works by van der Elsken, Strömholm, Carmi and Petersen and relates to a famous song by Lou Reed entitled Take a walk on the wild side.
In occasion of Fotografia Europea, foundations, museums, public and private collections (as the renowned Collezione Maramotti) open their doors to collateral events and shows which will run until the end of June, while concerts and video projections enlivened the three days of inauguration of one of the most enjoyable festival, that is worthwhile living whole hog.

See you there next year!


From the Bureau

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14/05/2012

The Future of Indian Fashion

Forecasts talking about Asia as the emerging fashion area and a booming luxury market have had the industry eyes pointed east for quite a while, and over the past years India has become a burning topic in the discussion. It has been a discussion that’s now starting to cool off; the progress isn’t as fast as expected, cultural differences are putting spanners in the works and influential names coming back west are saying that the Indian fashion scene isn’t happening, yet. In New Delhi – the city where opposites collide with an immense energy, the avenues are lined with chauffeur-driven cars, and local star design costs as much as Parisian couture – the Blogazine met with Creative Marketing and PR Consultant Anubhav Jain to talk about the future of Indian fashion.


Fashion, beauty and splendour have throughout the history been a crucial part of Indian culture, and for long the high-end products were reserved for a selected few. “The ‘maharajas’ [royalties] started the trend of luxury! We have a history of royals and jewels, that is our roots and it’s foremost where our fashion inspiration comes from,” says Jain. “Though, now the country is a part of the globalized world and we find sources of inspiration also from the Western part, especially in terms of detailing and quality,” he continues.

The main focus for the Indian fashion industry is growth and even though the business has witnessed a steady rise of attention from international stakeholders and fashion voices, the numbers are small when compared to the horde of buyers and brands represented during the major fashion weeks in London, Paris, Milan and New York. “As the Indian customer is becoming more brand conscious, it becomes imperative to further recognize the importance of craftsmanship, its value, and the value of its price to the customers,” Jain comments. He talks about the pricing levels as a big factor affecting the luxury market, where the ‘boom’ of attention for high end companies entering India principally relates to the brand names rather than generating in sales and profits. Taxes and import duties have reduced the saleability of luxury, and even though the ‘local socialite’ can afford the high end products, it’s a question of how these couture garments are worn. Jain means that if the brand doesn’t have a well-known and luxurious image, or if it hasn’t been seen on models, actors, politicians or other socially high ranked personalities, the company will have a much harder time getting through to their target clients in India.

Though, after some years along the line, now the luxury brands are really pushing it hard in India. The industry has been experiencing a great transformation through social media, fashion bloggers and e-commerce. “Yes, e-commerce in retail and on the high end will be the next big thing here,” Anubhav Jain confirms. He talks about fashion communication inspired by the Western ‘model’ as an important point to boost versatility and means that in a country like India, where various cultures and languages have to get along with each other, the fashion industry and its ‘language’ through garments, colours and trends is what binds them all together. Even though the country is becoming more liberal culturally, the ‘crazy fashion outfits’ that you would not only see during fashion weeks but on an everyday street in London, Paris, Milan or New York is not what you would come across even at the most fashionable event in Mumbai or New Delhi. “People are still rather reserved even though the market is opening up for new styles.”

When turning the conversation to a talk about the point where Indian fashion is directed towards the industry around, Jain thinks that it might be these various cultures, traditions and the history that the country holds that fascinates the western world. “They get influenced from our bright colours and textiles. The European preferences are often in the range of black, grey, navy and brown, but we feel there is a big demand of colours in the European market, and we could supply the Indian fashion products.” Even though the increasing number of international buyers who attend the Indian fashion events demonstrates that there are expectations on the country, the number of actual business that is carried out over the boarders are lower than one could hope, when talking about the American and European markets. Buyers are intrigued to take in the collections, and Indian top designers are chasing foreign markets. A big part of the Indian design generates trading with nearby markets such as the Middle East, where the aesthetics and the style preferences are more similar to begin with. Though, young artists come with young minds, and while the markets are slowly moving closer and finding inspiration within each other, many designers are still longing for the shot in the west.

The industry eye might have taken a minor break from the close watch on India, but with e-commerce companies making an effort to enter the market- as well as Indian e-commerce doing the same towards the world and with social media and fashion blogging on the rise- the reasons for going back to India might become additional, sooner than expected.

Lisa Olsson Hjerpe – Image courtesy Lakmé Fashion Week 

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13/05/2012

Sunday Breakfast by Love For Breakfast

Sunday Breakfast by Love For Breakfast

When the sky is matte, the best choice is to put color on your table. I chose the orange in the hope of getting warmth.

Alessia Bossi from Love For Breakfast

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11/05/2012

Remembering Maurice Sendak

Remembering Maurice Sendak

“Where the Wild Things Are” taught me how to employ imagination purely as a survival tactic, a refuge from droning schoolwork, nagging parents and brothers and―now that I’m older―droning desk work and eye-rolling social obligations that seem to roll over me on a daily basis. It’s hard to control external forces, but Maurice Sendak helped teach me that it’s your own obligation to control how you deal with what comes your way. Max sails to another world, conquers all, and returns home for a hot supper. No wonder he continues to resonate with the world.

Most of our lives are spent alone in thoughts, wondering where to go next in a world that is largely indifferent. Sendak captured our mind’s spiky cocktail of terror and bewilderment with a fearless intensity, not just in “Where the Wild Things Are” but also “In the Night Kitchen”, “Brundibar”, and dozens of other classics. His work is representative of a group of people who remain too transfixed by their own worries and curiosities to simply run away from them. And it cuts deep: One kid loved his work so much that he decided to eat it.

Born a lower class Jew in 1928 and raised during the Depression and through the Holocaust and World War II, Sendak kept his homosexuality away from his parents out of fear of disappointing them. The Lindbergh baby kidnapping and murder of 1932, Sendak once said, worked as an unintended influence, a real-life nightmare that made him realize the instability and unpredictable nature of life. Likewise, a baby is hauled away by goblins in “Outside Over There.”

Exposed to the realities of life from the get-go, he later single-handedly ripped children’s stories out of the innocent fairytale realm and placed them on a plateau on par with reality, fear be damned. He didn’t do it for shock value (which he sometimes unfairly found himself in hot water for), but out of a profound respect for the courage of young people and their fresh worldviews. Those monsters in Max’s adventure? They were based on his relatives, who would cower over his crib when he fell gravely ill as a child. It’s no small coincidence that Max overpowers and rules them.

It’s scary out there, but his characters never stayed scared―or inside their rooms―for long. Like Max, Mickey from “In the Night Kitchen” was also a fearless explorer of the corners of his own imagination, escaping the noisy confines of his bedroom to embark on an all-night baking adventure throughout New York City. And like Max, Mickey returns home after his surreal travels, glad to be back but all the wiser for exploring his innate curiosity. The same can be said for Sendak, only he left us all the wiser as well. I’d offer my own words here, but it’s hard to imagine a more fitting castoff than the one he once offered to us all as words of encouragement:

And he sailed off through night and day
In and out of weeks
And almost over a year
To where the wild things are

Lane Koivu

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10/05/2012

Vidal Sassoon 1928 – 2012

Vidal Sassoon 1928 – 2012

Yesterday the world received the news that the man who revolutionized the way women’s hair was cut, Vidal Sassoon, had passed away. Famous for the classic bob and his five point cut, he has been liberating the women of the 60’s with his ‘wash and wear’ style. He has been called the Chanel of Hair, a rock star, an artist and a craftsman who “changed the world with a pair of scissors.”

The London born hairdresser’s fame started the day he made a cut for Nancy Kwan. The iconic bob, which was captured in a portrait by Terrence Donovan and broadcasted to the world through Vogue, was the starting point that led everyday women, models and film stars to his salon on Bond Street. Like any good ‘couturier’, Sassoon was not afraid of taking risks, experimenting and customizing his cuts to best fit his models’ features. “My idea was to cut shape into the hair, to use it like fabric and take away everything that was superfluous”, he said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1993.

The industry normally refers to fashion designers as artists who helped define our style history and way of life, but we dare to claim that Vidal Sassoon could be included in that group of names. He helped define the 60’s Britain, and saved the women who were going back to work, from dryers, curlers and hours at the beauty salons.

2010, “Vidal Sassoon: The Movie” was released and was a part of the Offical Selection of Tribeca Film Festival. A film documenting and celebrating the life and the legacy of the man who created the styles of icons like Mary Quant and Mia Farrow, and who according to American Vogue’s creative editor Grace Coddington “revolutionized just not hair, but fashion.”

Lisa Olsson Hjerpe

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10/05/2012

Alfabeta2, A Place For Cultural Intervention

Alfabeta2, A Place For Cultural Intervention

What is Alfabeta2 and why we have chosen to talk about it? To answer this question we must jump back to the end of 70’s and, to be more precise, cast our mind back to the time (from 1979 to 1988) when a monthly magazine entitled Alfabeta was issued. The periodical, conceived by the Italian poet and writer Nanni Balestrini with the collaboration of important intellectuals – among which the well known semiologist, philosopher and writer Umberto Eco – was one of the most interesting and unique editorial experiments of that period and a centre for cultural and political discussion in Italy. People with different backgrounds could find there a place to dialogue and exchange ideas about books, other magazines, exhibitions, theatre and cinema, reporting news and cultural events.


Contributors of the likes of Gillo Dorfles, Lea Vergine, Achille Bonito Oliva, Stefano Zecchi, Ugo Volli, Renato Barilli – perhaps for some of you these names don’t mean anything, but they are part of our cultural heritage – enlivened Alfabeta with long and complex articles and reviews, which conveyed the main current issues while entertaining the audience. Well, after more than twenty years from its closure, the magazine got unexpectedly back to the newsstands almost a year ago and today represents a singular and unusual publication; something that ‘communically-speaking’ seems to be totally out of our time.


Even if the new issue has opened to the changes introduced by the Internet and the new technologies – the website is constantly updated and documents and videos are spread through the main social networks – the contents are far away from the reading proposals in vogue today, where the ‘like’ option as a critical approach dominates. The texts are long and written in a refined language and the images are few and strictly connected to a single artist chosen month by month like Jan Fabre, Giuseppe Penone, Emilio Insgrò, Michelangelo Pistoletto or Fabio Mauri.

Somebody could think that this magazine seems a bit boring, pretentious, somehow too difficult to understand, and certainly not comparable with lifestyle magazines to flip through. Looking at the pictures, some others could say that intellectuals don’t exist anymore and this kind of language is outdated. Alfabeta2 required concentration, reading keys and an effort to delve into the issues that usually our nihilistic hedonism solves with a simple sentence: ‘I try not to think about it’.

We are not nostalgic and doubtlessly we aren’t short on lightness, but since we are not just ‘profiles’, we always pick up ours ears and think that enriching our cultural background and knowing what happens around us is a way of using time, which never goes out of fashion. The May issue is now on the newsstands with a provocative question: ‘who owns the culture?’… What you think?

Monica Lombardi

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09/05/2012

The First Note On The Horn – Ichigo-Ichie

The First Note On The Horn – Ichigo-Ichie

Welcome to the second part of The First Note On The Horn series from the sizzling music scene of Tokyo. Ai Mitsuda takes us to the backstage with Kuni, the talented trumpetist of Sly Mongoose. Read the first part of the story Tokyo Burning here and the second part The Misty Urban Rain here

Ichigo-Ichie is a Japanese old saying derived from Zen Buddhism, which literary means One time, one encounter; Cherish this very moment, for the same stream will never cross again, may the encounter be fulfilled with the wholehearted gratitude, for it will never happen the same again.

“A vast amount of human energy and soul has lost in a moment.”

Kuni recalled the 3.11 disaster in Japan. “I’ve always believed in Ichigo-Ichie, but that day was an intense moment to realize it. Maybe we meet again and spend more time together, but maybe not, this time could be really the last time.” Kuni told that he has a lot to be thankful for in his life, and meeting different people is the most important one of them all.

For him, Terence Blanchard has always been a wonderful source of inspiration and a precious presence as a person. To begin his new life in New York after graduation, Kuni went to see Terence Blanchard Quintet at Village Vanguard one night.

“How you gonna survive?” Terence had asked him. “Well, I’ve just arrived in the city, I don’t know yet…” He couldn’t provide a better answer.

Two weeks later, when Kuni came back home, his roommate handed him a phone slip. “Do you know a lady, named Robin?” “Of course,” Kuni had answered. “Robin, she is the manager of Terence!” What a beautiful surprise it had been, a warm welcome to join Terence’s team as his assistant. “I was deeply moved, surprised and got a little nervous to be honest, you know.” Kuni continued, “Everyone knows how hard time Terence would spend to evolve into a new stage of creation, I deeply respect Terence as an artist, most important thing is, I learned so much about life itself while being with him. I remember, once we were at The Manhattan Center recording a film score, Terence was making sure that he saw various kind of nationalities in the ensemble. He’s always mindful about these things, always open to listen to people. He makes his statements simple and direct but you can feel his warm and profound heart right there. His music really reflects his way of being, I just love the way his harmony goes.”

‘Be Who You Are’ : it was a simple but a strong message from Terence. Since the question of doing Jazz as a Japanese started smoldering in his mind, consciously or unconsciously, Kuni has been on the road. “Before being a Japanese, I am Kuni myself. It’s quite simple but important for me. I was brought up in circumstances where Jazz was very close. I had a warm and close feeling about its culture, and it was quite natural for me to step into it. But first, there’s Jazz as a cultural heritage and I wanted to learn and pay full respect to its history as much as possible. In general, I have always believed in the trees standing on their roots, leaves are not just accessories.”

“Now, I feel like doing simply music, through my one and only eyes.”

And it seems it doesn’t have to be categorized into one specific genre of music. In Kuni’s gorgeous nomadic piece called nebula (from the album of Sly Mongoose, Mystic Daddy, 2009), as the first note on the horn echoes, every instrument starts playing with its different meter, some goes in three-four, some in two-four, some in five-four, shaping an unformed cloud of dust, diffusing haunting refrain in the air, moment after moment.

Why not getting lost in this floating cloud for a while.

Ai Mitsuda – Image 1 with Terence Blanchard, at The Manhattan Center, New York City, 1994; 3 his trumpet is his own ‘voice’, courtesy of Kuni.

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09/05/2012

The Editorial: C’est Maintenant?

The Editorial: C’est Maintenant?

As I flew into Place de La Bastille this weekend on a clunky Velib’, the entire square burst into jubilant cheers. Red flares. French and African and Latin American flags waved happily. The leftist candidate had won! And it always feels pretty great when the candidate who stands up unabashedly for the little guy wins. Plus Monsieur Hollande is a welcome change from the eminently smug, snarky Sarkozy and looks like a wholesome, kindly grandad.

As the odd political pundit and Socialist party member shuffled on and off stage, each giving short speeches about the momentous victory, familiar refrains were oft repeated with slight variations: “Banks will no longer order, they will obey!” “We’ll show Europe that exit from the crisis will come through growth, not austerity!” But as the night’s planned entertainment descended into a bewildering lineup of C and D grade non-sequiturs, parts of the crowd broke into feel-good chants of ”Sarkozy, en prison!” under Holland’s omnipresent slogan “C’est maintenant!” (“It’s now!”). And for at least one evening, France had found some swagger.


But surely enough, markets were down on Monday. A national leader can’t exactly rally against banks and expect them to rally around him. So, while a change of energy and a change of face was much needed, Europe this week is finding itself in a seriously precarious position. While Spain and Italy and even France itself face mounting problems of unemployment, increasing poverty and still uncontrolled levels of debt, one of Europe’s biggest economies will now be taking on (and advocating) even larger loads than before.

Political cartoonists and much of the blogosphere have been declaring the death of the love affair of economic restraint between Germany and France’s leaders, cutely dubbed “Merkozy” by many. So, what does the divorce mean for Europe? What kind of example does killing austerity set for Greece? Can the Euro survive it all?

France is already being crushed under the weight of its colossal bureaucracy. And as one of the two de facto titan stewards of Europe’s future, it also stands to be crushed by the weight of its own responsibility in the wider world. So here’s to you, Hollande: we like you, but you need all the luck you can get.

Tag Christof – Images courtesy of Henri Cartier-Bresson

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08/05/2012

Kristina Gill: Carrot Cake

Kristina Gill: Carrot Cake

One of my favorite cakes is definitely the legendary carrot cake. Usually I love the crumb of cakes but not so much the icing. Carrot cake is one of the few cakes, maybe the only one, that I eat gladly with the icing. The cream cheese is a perfect complement to the cake, without adding too much sweetness. The perfect carrot cake to me has a moist crumb, with the right balance of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. The addition of raisins and walnuts, sometimes pineapple, is ok but not necessary to make it good. These things do, however, trick people into thinking that carrot cake is “better” for you than other cakes. It’s not! But if it’s so good, who cares?

Kristina Gill

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