Enzo Mari Opening Press Release - March 2024

First solo UK exhibition of Italian
designer Enzo Mari opens at the

Design Museum
Enzo Mari curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Francesca Giacomelli
An exhibition produced by Triennale Milano
29 March — 08 September 2024
Supported at the Design Museum by Istituto Marangoni
PRESS IMAGES HERE
The first ever UK museum exhibition devoted to one of the most significant
designers of the 20th century opens at the Design Museum on Friday.
The 60-year career of designer Enzo Mari — a pioneer of post-war Italian

design — is spotlit in this major exhibition unveiled this morning. It is co-
curated by Mari’s friend and collaborator, and artistic director of Serpentine,
Hans Ulrich Obrist, with Francesca Giacomelli, Mari's studio project
assistant, designer, curator and researcher.
The large-scale retrospective includes the full spectrum of Mari’s prolific

output, from his work as a designer, but also as an artist, teacher, critic and
theorist. In total, more than 300 objects are on display — most have not been
seen in the UK before.
The exhibition — produced by Triennale Milano — comes to the UK after

debuting in Milan in 2020. The original exhibition opened just before Mari’s
death, aged 88. He is remembered as a “giant” of Italian design and a figure
whose life and work has inspired generations of creatives around the world.
The vast array of works that visitors will see spans the spheres of art, design,
exhibition and graphic design. Hundreds of Mari’s projects are examined,
ranging from furniture to conceptual installation-based works, and from
product design to graphics. Also on show are his children’s books and
games, which were an important aspect of Mari’s output as in his vast
creative field, he considered the needs of children just as important as those
of adults.
Archival material throughout the show provides greater insight into Mari’s
research process, and the key principles that guided and unified his work.
During his long career, many of Mari’s timeless designs went on to fill
homes across the globe, as they continue to do to this day. They include his
‘Nature Series’ prints of apples and pears, perpetual calendars in injection
moulded plastic, and timeless furniture and kitchenware.
Mari had a firm commitment to creating designs that were sustainable in

both their materiality and aesthetics, and that were accessible to everyone.
This approach was radical for his time, and today he can be seen as a
trailblazer for many of design’s and society’s most pressing issues. His
seminal instruction booklet ‘Autoprogettazione’ (Proposal for self-design), is
one such example, predating open-source design practices.
Underlying much of Mari’s work was a belief that play is “the activity
needed to discover one’s potential and to learn about the world”. After
seeing his children playing, he decided to design new toys and games for
them. These went on to become some of his most famous works, and are
highlights of the exhibition. ‘16 Animals’ — which he created in 1957 — is
a wooden puzzle composed of the silhouettes of sixteen animals, including a
camel, elephant and kangaroo. Its production by the Milanese manufacturer
Danese, proved so popular that sixteen years later Mari designed another
version, ‘16 Fish’, which featured silhouettes of fish, seals, an octopus and
other sea creatures. Both puzzles were intended to encourage children to
discover through play. Other toys and games Mari created and on display are
‘The fable game’, and ‘The apple and the butterfly’.
Known for his uncompromising beliefs and subversive opinions, Mari has
been described as ‘design’s conscience’. His stance was one of activism,
calling for a greater social responsibility in design, and access to knowledge.
His durable, low-cost and multifunctional objects speak to these beliefs, as
do his broader installation-based works.
The exhibition has been curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist who worked closely
with Enzo Mari on a series of interviews in 1990s and continued a dialogue
and exchanges with him since. The exhibition is drawn from the final show
Mari curated during his lifetime — Enzo Mari: L’arte del design at the
Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Turin in 2008. It has
been expanded to include archival material assembled by Francesca
Giacomelli to illustrate the process of creation and the evolution of key
projects resulting from Mari’s research.
The projects featured in the show can collectively be considered the most
representative works of the nearly 2,000 Mari created during his career. The
objects are displayed in chronological order, without distinguishing between
disciplines, media, or types of research.
The exhibition also includes a number of tributes from contemporary

international artists who reflect on Mari’s extraordinary life and legacy
through site-specific installations and new, specially commissioned works.
These pieces — by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Mimmo Jodice, Dozie
Kanu, Adrian Paci, Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Nanda
Vigo, Danh Vō and Virgil Abloh — make up the final section of the
exhibition.
Visitors will also see a series of video interviews by Hans Ulrich Obrist that
illustrate Mari’s constant ethical tensions.
In a first for the Design Museum, this major exhibition is accompanied by an

additional free display on the museum’s balcony, allowing all visitors to be
able to discover Mari’s enduring influence.
Thirteen London-based, contemporary designers will display select pieces of

their work which demonstrate how their practice has been inspired by Mari’s
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thinking or his legacy. The designers are Jasper Morrison, Studiomama,
Martino Gamper, Industrial Facility, Andu Masebo, Michael Marriott,
Special Projects, Jaclyn Papparlardo, A Practice for Everyday Life, Rio
Kobayashi, Sound Advice, Livia Lauber and StudyOPortable, and the
display — titled Grazie Enzo: Contemporary Responses to Enzo Mari —
opens on the same day as the exhibition.
Enzo Mari curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Francesca Giacomelli

comes to London after its run in at Triennale in Milan in 2020, and at C-
Mine in Genk, Belgium in 2023. It is curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with
Francesca Giacomelli. It is curated for the Design Museum by Rachel Hajek.
The balcony display is curated by Esme Hawes.
Hans Ulrich Obrist, curator, said: “This is a relevant time to revisit Mari’s
work and look at the issues of sustainability and accessibility through his
lens. 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. This connects to his
passion for transformation. Form was everything for him, but he wanted to
create, through these forms, models for a different society. I am delighted
that the Design Museum, after successful runs in Italy and Belgium, has
brought the exhibition to London and has evolved the show for UK
audiences to explore the remarkable and genius world of Enzo Mari.”
Francesca Giacomelli, curator, said: “Mari believed that ‘ethics is the goal
of every project’. He didn’t want to create objects, he wanted to create
models for a different society, for a different way of producing and living.
The aim was to have people became part of the project itself: to free the
others from the passive role of consumer, because the project is not a form to
contemplate or to be consumed, but an instrument of transformation that
requires the active participation of a community, made aware by knowledge.
His research are allegorical fragments of a single project, to which Mari has
dedicated his life, in the hope "of transforming the world". Now we have the
task to preserve his legacy, made of instruments of knowledge, and try to
create a new world.”
Johanna Agerman Ross, Conran Foundation Chief Curator at the

Design Museum, said: “The Design Museum exists to showcase the vital
role designers play in society, and Enzo Mari was truly one of the design
pioneers of the 20th century. His legacy and influence deserve to be more
widely known, and so we are delighted to open the first ever retrospective
exhibition of his work in Britain and to bring his designs and thinking to our
hundreds of thousands of visitors. This is also a brilliant opportunity to
investigate his legacy and influence on many contemporary designers
through our balcony display that we have created as a complement to the
exhibition.”
Rachel Hajek, curator at the Design Museum, said: “Enzo Mari’s

uncompromising belief in the social responsibility of design resonates
powerfully today. There is a huge amount we can learn from the ideas he
championed since the 1950s onwards, and so we can’t wait to welcome
visitors to explore his remarkable career.”
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-Ends-
Notes to Editors
PRESS ENQUIRIES:
Maxwell Blowfield, Senior Media and PR Manager
E: maxwell.blowfield@designmuseum.org
Press Office
E: pr@designmuseum.org
#EnzoMariExhibition
@designmuseum
Associate Sponsor:
Produced by:
About the Design Museum:
The Design Museum is the world’s leading museum devoted to

contemporary architecture and design. Its work encompasses all elements of
design, including fashion, product and graphic design. Since it opened its
doors in 1989 the museum has displayed everything from an AK-47 to high
heels designed by Christian Louboutin. It has staged over 100 exhibitions,
welcomed over seven million visitors and showcased the work of some of
the world’s most celebrated designers and architects including Paul Smith,
Zaha Hadid, Jonathan Ive, Frank Gehry, Eileen Gray, Dieter Rams, Margaret
Calvert and Yinka Ilori.
On 24 November 2016, the Design Museum relocated to Kensington, west

London. John Pawson converted the interior of a 1960s modernist building
to create a new home for the Design Museum giving it three times more
space in which to show a wider range of exhibitions and significantly extend
its learning programme. Since opening in Kensington in 2016, the Design
4
Museum has hosted major exhibitions including Stanley Kubrick: The
Exhibition, Moving to Mars, Amy: Beyond the Stage, Sneakers Unboxed:
Studio to Street, Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers,
Charlotte Perriand: The Modern Life, Football: Designing the Beautiful
Game, Waste Age: What can design do?, Ai Weiwei: Making Sense, and
The Offbeat Sari.
In 2021, the Design Museum launched Future Observatory, a national

programme for design research supporting the UK’s response to the green
transition. The three-year programme is coordinated by the Design Museum
in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC),
which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
designmuseum.org

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First solo UK exhibition of Italian

designer Enzo Mari opens at the

PRESS IMAGES HERE

The 60-year career of designer Enzo Mari — a pioneer of post-war Italian

The large-scale retrospective includes the full spectrum of Mari’s prolific

The exhibition — produced by Triennale Milano — comes to the UK after

Mari had a firm commitment to creating designs that were sustainable in

The exhibition also includes a number of tributes from contemporary

In a first for the Design Museum, this major exhibition is accompanied by an

Thirteen London-based, contemporary designers will display select pieces of

Enzo Mari curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Francesca Giacomelli

Johanna Agerman Ross, Conran Foundation Chief Curator at the

Rachel Hajek, curator at the Design Museum, said: “Enzo Mari’s

About the Design Museum:

The Design Museum is the world’s leading museum devoted to

On 24 November 2016, the Design Museum relocated to Kensington, west

In 2021, the Design Museum launched Future Observatory, a national

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