The panel exhibition “100 Vasi,” which explores the history of the Italian vase from the 20th and 21st centuries, was initially displayed at our Institute during the 2024 Italian Design Day. This exhibition is now becoming itinerant and will be hosted at Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi. The initiative is in collaboration with the Department of Applied Foreign Languages at Sorbonne University, UAE.
Starting from September 19th, for one week at the Library of the prestigious University, students of Italian and other disciplines at Sorbonne (with texts and captions in both Italian and English) will be able to learn, through the illustrations of the 10 panels of the exhibition, a fundamental part of the history of Italian Design: the production and creation of the “Italian vase.” This journey spans from the early 1900s with designers like Galileo Chini and Vittorio Zecchini to modern and contemporary designers such as Carlo Scarpa and Ettore Sottsass. The exhibition will feature descriptions and images of over thirty of Italy’s most renowned designers, showcasing their production processes, materials, and places of creation.
The project, created in collaboration with SKIRA publishing house and with the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, aims to narrate the evolution of Italian vase design through the centuries, reflecting both historical influences and contemporary challenges.
The exhibition’s opening on September 19th at 12pm will also be an opportunity for the Italian Cultural Institute of Abu Dhabi to donate some of the latest titles in contemporary Italian literature to the Sorbonne University Library in Abu Dhabi, which already holds hundreds of volumes of foreign literature in their original languages.
