The best of Edit Napoli 2021

For the first time, Federico Pepe presents a consistent body of interdisciplinary works, including furniture, graphics and art, showing his ever changing and fluid vision. A sort of “bestiary”, whose apparent randomness actually follows an ordered and geometric arrangement that brings out connections. Such as the connection with the wonderful place that hosts the exhibition, the Museo Civico Gaetano Filangeri, rich in history and art, with which an unexpected dialogue is born. “Chest'è”, curated by Federica Sala, until 30 January 2022.

Traditional Neapolitan white ceramics are reinterpreted by Patricia Urquiola together with the students from the Istituto Caselli – Royal Factory of Capodimonte. Hybrida is a complex collection of centrepieces inspired by nature, creating fairy-tale creatures that merge with the flora and soil, taking us to an enchanted Eden. Like the one in the school's indoor educational garden, to which the proceeds from Christie's’ charity auction will be donated. Among the buyers is coach Roberto Mancini.

Lebanese architect and product designer Stephanie Moussallem has created four floor and table lamps working with Neapolitan artisans, with the aim of combining different techniques and materials that represent the manufacturing spirit still widespread in the city's historic centre. Multicolour glass and intricate woodwork draw a trait d'union between Beirut and Naples. “Love for the family, the strong presence of faith in everyday life, the urban disorder contrasted with a natural serenity generate a pulsating energy that can only exist in such chaos and contraction”, explains the designer. Shades of Naples is a project in partnership with the Made in Cloister Foundation and House of Today, until 30 January 2022.

Lidewij Edelkoort and Charlotte Grün have curated an exhibition in the evocative State Archives in Naples, dedicated to the personal library of Dutch artist and graphic designer Anthon Beecke. A typographer and street artist, Beecke worked throughout his career on the theme of the body and eroticism, with which he created a new and provocative expressive alphabet. The exhibition also highlights the personal and professional relationship, lasted over three decades, between Beecke and Edelkoort (until 15 December 2021).

Amulets set in urns reminiscent of ex-votos. Between the works of the South African artist and goldsmith Daniel Kruger and the rooms of the Museum of the Treasure of San Gennaro there is an extraordinary dialogue that speaks to us of earthly fragility and fear and of the tension towards the spiritual, otherworldly dimension. The solo exhibition is curated by Marco Bazzini for the Antonella Villanova Gallery in Florence (until 30 January 2022).

Stefano Bassan and Gianluca Sigismondi, the young founders of the studio Finemateria, present their research on polyurethane foam, aimed at reducing the number of materials present in a common upholstered sofa, with consequent disposal problems. Looking at the mattress industry, they propose a sandwich of varying density and thickness with which to create a single-material seat. One of the prototypes has a thermosensitive lining.

A small Neapolitan brand of food design and local craftsmanship, Eleit.it creates multi-sensory tableware with a strong narrative and ritualistic capacity, in partnership with well-known chefs. This is the case of Famiglia Oliva, designed by Astrid Luglio with sommelier and master oil maker Mariella Caputo: a collection of objects for oil tasting, created by the tinsmiths of Rua Catalana in Naples.

Contemporary tapestries to explore the multifaceted female universe of North Macedonia. This is the Trasposizioni collection by textile artist and designer Margarita Aleksievska Sclavi (House of Ita): collages using traditional Slavic-Macedonian women's clothing of Byzantine imprint as raw material. The artist deconstructs and reassembles them in a journey to discover her own roots, on the border between East and West, where the emancipation of women passes through creativity.

Alfabeto is a collection in enamelled handmade terracotta and lava stone, designed by Margherita Rui for 950 ninefifty. 19 decorations composed of lines that combine and transform the surfaces into graphic compositions. “When I designed Alfabeto I wanted to recreate the rhythm of the shapes and colours of the ceramics from Caltagirone. But only by abstracting the shapes: from figurative to symbolic, geometric. Even the saturated shades synthesise the colours. They become signs of an alphabet with which to write stories”, says Rui.

Monogramma Studio interprets Cimento, a compound that uses 90% mineral aggregates mixed with a cement binder. Easily shaped, it can be used to create moulded textures. The result are the three-dimensional modules of Frammenti with fluorite flakes, or the bas-reliefs of Battigia, which evoke the ripples of sand, or the macramé-inspired surfaces, which incorporate selvedges recovered from production scraps fo Rubelli, combining industry, craftsmanship and upcycling.