Enzo Mari’s exhibition at the London Design Museum

The Design Museum in London is dedicating a solo exhibition to the Italian designer Enzo Mari for the first time in the UK. Following the major exhibition at the Triennale di Milano in 2020, held just before his death, Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine, friend and collaborator of Mari, together with Francesca Giacomelli, designer, curator, and researcher, present a journey featuring over 300 objects on display. “In my many conversations with him, Mari always emphasized that design objects have to be made to last for good – design that’s there to stay, against the idea of a disposable waste of resources” remembers Obrist, previewing the video interviews that showcase Mari’s ethics. Artist, critic, designer, academic, Enzo Mari was a design pioneer with ideas that remain avant-garde today and a strong social commitment. He believed that it was essential for his products to be accessible to everyone, regardless of economic status, with the aim of democratising design by creating durable and functional objects.

This extensive retrospective collects the most iconic works of his career, from his Nature Series prints, to perpetual calendars, to Autoprogettazione, and even to children's toys inspired by his own children, such as the wooden puzzle 16 Animals and the later 16 Fish, which were based on the belief that play is “the necessary activity to discover one’s potential and to understand the world.”

The exhibition is organised chronologically and is accompanied by archival material, an essential part of Mari's legacy, including technical drawings, preparatory sketches and notes. A page from Domus, media partner of "Enzo Mari" at the Design Museum, is also on display.

In the final section of the exhibition, site-specific installations and works by international artists such as Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Mimmo Jodice, Dozie Kanu, Adrian Paci, Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Nanda Vigo, Danh Vō, and Virgil Abloh serve as a final tribute to Mari. The exhibition is enriched by a free “collateral show” set up outside titled “Grazie Enzo: Contemporary Responses to Enzo Mari,” which features the works of 13 contemporary designers influenced by Mari, who continues to be an inspiration today.

Opening image: Enzo Mari. Photo Ramak Fazel