18
May 2025
12:00 AM to 12:00 AM
Avid Learning’s Museum Lens: Curating Collaborations, Conversations, and Cultural Futures
Online
In celebration of the Italian Design Day 2024, the Consulate General of Italy in Mumbai, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Mumbai, IFBE, Avid Learning, and STIR present Culture Chronicles: Architecture, Design, and Curation Across Spaces.
In today’s world of sensory overload, the
significance of meticulous design and curation takes on a deeper resonance. As
you step into the world of museums and exhibitions, the architects, designers,
and curators weave fabrics that connect history, art, and culture as context
for interpreting the contemporary. Through imaginative storytelling,
they reshape cultural institutions into dynamic spaces, where the interplay of
diverse elements sparks collective creativity. The role of the museums,
however, has traditionally been hierarchical in the relationship with their
public - those from whom the contemporary culture itself emerges.
The unique discourse promises a deep dive
into the intersection of interdisciplinary practices including the impact of
design on the public's engagement with collections and the pivotal role of
architecture in sculpting the narrative essence of such spaces. It will unpack
the global shift in the curatorial discourse emphasising the non-hierarchical
'learning with' their audiences and how that designs the institutions in
return. The experts will discuss how their creative practices challenge norms,
reflect on the shifts catalysed by emerging technologies, and contribute to the
future of a design language that is inclusive, plural, and sustainable.
Join us for this multicultural dialogue as we unravel the narratives at the convergence of aesthetics, ethics, specialism, value, and collaboration.
Beatrice Leanza is a cultural strategist, museum director and critic with a background in Asian studies who was based in Beijing for 17 years. She was executive director of maat – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon, creative director of Beijing Design Week, director of mudac – Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland, and co-founded The Global School, the first independent institute for interdisciplinary creative research established in the PRC. Articles and interviews about her and her projects have appeared in Artforum, Abitare, CNN Style, Domus, Dezeen, Frieze, Flash Art International, The Art Newspaper, T Magazine/The New York Times, The Guardian, Il Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, Vogue Italia, among many others. She is a member of the international advisory board of Design Trust (Hong Kong) and is a European Young Leader (2018 – present; Friends of Europe Foundation, Brussel).
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Srila Chatterjee spent 25 years at the helm of Highlight Films, nurturing and furthering many successful careers in cinema, fashion, production, and set design. She currently works at the intersection of art, design, craft, and fashion. Srila has curated the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in its early years and co-founded blueFROG, an iconic music space. Additionally, she co-founded a furniture and craft-based concept store called Baro, where she curated a year-long art and cultural calendar, creating an iconic brand that styles interior spaces. In 2020, she founded Baro Market, a highly successful brand with both an online presence and participation in special markets. Her newest passion is 47-A, the design gallery she co-founded in the historic village of Khotachi Wadi in Bombay, where she is responsible for programming six shows a year.
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Karl WadiaOn completing his post graduate studies from the famous Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation @ Columbia University, New York, and subsequently gathering 3.5 years of precious work experience from Kohn Pederson Fox, London, UK; Karl returned to India to start his Design Studio under his long term mentor Padma Bhushan Shri. Hafeez Contractor. Through sheer hard work, dedication, constant experimentation in the field of design and his philosophy of empowering talent in the studio, he now heads a team in excess of 150 Designers, Visualisers, Senior technicians, Site supervisors & Managers, popularly known as ‘Studio Karl’ at AHC. Besides being the Architectural Designers for some of India’s most aspirational & relevant projects; Studio Karl has also designed India’s Largest & the world’s 3rd Largest Net Zero Energy Building @ Manipal University in Jaipur. They are presently re-imagining IIM Calcutta’s 135-acre campus with a 2036 Zero Carbon Road Map and have won the Bid for the National Maritime Heritage Museum at Lothal, Gujarat, which is going to be India’s largest Museum and the worlds Largest Net Zero Museum. In the Commercial & Hospitality Sector, Studio Karl are the Principal Architects & Lead Designers for North India’s first St. Regis & Marriott Marquis coming up in New Delhi’s Aerocity as part of India’s largest Hospitality offering, with Multi Use Convention centre, Banqueting spaces, a Commercial Trade Centre, all tied together with a Retail High Street making this a truly unique mixed use offering.
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Amit Gupta is a designer, thinker and conceptualiser for all things creative, provocative and challenging, Amit founded STIR as a global platform that offers exclusively curated, carefully analysed and meticulously presented content. STIR presents arenas for cross-disciplinary collaborations, industry connects and community building in order to reach out to a large audience of design enthusiasts, consumers, next-generation creators and thinkers within the world of art, architecture and design. Amit traversed into promoting design and architecture by establishing the first Indian design management company - vis a vis, in 1997. vis a vis curated highly acclaimed events as the first architecture and design gallery in India. In 2014, he launched STIR as a reinvention of vis a vis to foster creativity in an ecosystem nurtured by quantitative and qualitative contribution to the world’s creative economy.
Read moreItalian Design Day (IDD)
The Italian Design Day (IDD) is a significant
initiative by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
aimed at showcasing and promoting Italian design and architecture on a global
platform. Each year, this event selects 100 diverse individuals to act as
ambassadors, sharing the narrative of Italy's rich design heritage and creative
innovation worldwide.
The IDD serves as a strategic tool to boost the export potential of Italian design firms, facilitating their international reach and fostering collaborations with global partners. By highlighting the unique blend of tradition, craftsmanship, and contemporary trends that define Italian design, this event contributes to enhancing Italy's reputation as a hub for creativity and excellence in the field of design.
Moreover, the IDD plays a crucial role in promoting cultural exchange, sharing technical expertise, and nurturing creative dialogue between Italy and other nations. Through initiatives like these, Italy not only showcases its artistic prowess but also strengthens its position as a leading player in the global design landscape.
What is Curation?
The term "curation" originates from the Latin word "curatus," meaning to take care of or cure, reflecting the original role of a curator as someone who tended to people's souls. Today, curation involves the meticulous selection and thoughtful presentation of content, whether it be for an exhibition, a digital platform, or any other form of communication.
In its essence, curation aims to create an experience for visitors that is both wide and varied. It goes beyond simply providing information; instead, it seeks to resonate with its audience, touch on public life issues, and offer insights that can connect multidisciplinary knowledge through the organization of specific topics.
A curated exhibition is not just a collection of items; it is a narrative that transcends facts and figures. It conveys knowledge by evoking emotions in its viewers and engaging them on a deeper level. Through curation, we can build bridges between different fields of study and create experiences that leave a lasting impact on those who interact with them.
Experience and Storytelling with Curation
In the age of excess and endless forms of storytelling, curation practices by architects, designers, and other professionals working in various organizations become increasingly vital in constructing narratives that shape how we interpret information and absorb stories along with unforgettable experiences. By engaging in thoughtful curation at every step these professionals from diverse disciplines aid in making sense of histories that may have been lost or overlooked, connect materials from different territories, shed light on parts of cultures that have yet to be carefully told and introduce the future technology and possibilities of growth. For many decades, curators have served as gatekeepers to information and stories, providing people with critical thinking tools essential for navigating our near and far futures. Through their work, they bring value to otherwise overlooked stories and offer new perspectives on familiar narratives. As this practice of curation has evolved, curators have executed interdisciplinary practices that play a significant role in helping individuals absorb and interpret information. By carefully selecting and presenting content, they guide audiences through complex narratives, fostering a deeper understanding of the world around us, creating a long-term associated memory and further encouraging them to use it in their future actions.
