PRESS RELEASE – 4th SEPTEMBER 2018
LDB 2018: TRImarchi opens “THE IMPENETRABLE FOREST” at the Argentine Pavilion
4 th September-
London The TRImarchi design collective has been selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to curate Argentina’s Pavilion at one of the most prestigious events on the international calendar: from the 4th to 23rd of September, craftsmanship, immaterial heritage and contemporary design will converge at the London Design Biennale 2018 (LDB) in Somerset House (SH).
This year´s edition will bring together over 40 nations to exhibit newly commissioned works inspired by the theme ‘Emotional States’, a subject chosen to provoke a broad interpretation across design disciplines, with immersive and engaging installations that interrogate how design influences our lives, emotions and experiences.
Responding to the theme, textile designer Sol Marinucci and TRImarchi co-founder, Sebastián Valdivia, began a journey to explore the world of ancestral Wichi design made from chaguar (agave fiber). “El Impenetrable is a place for visitors to lose the sense of the urban, a space to allow ourselves to reconnect with our emotional states”, the design team invites.
“The Wichis are masters of a certain type of knitting involving complex and sacred geometric forms that evoke the power of nature. When the theme of LDB calls on emotional states, it is time to reflect inwards, towards el impenetrable, towards being. The parallel with the Wichi community is inevitable, framed behind walls of thorns and shrubs, inducing magical states through its designs,” explain Marinucci and Valdivia, who have been working for over a year on the installation alongside the Embassy of Argentina in the United Kingdom and with the help of the British Council.
On the face of the 21st century, nations, territories and cities are increasingly recognising the power of design to bring social change and foster economic growth. The Argentine Pavilion is also seeking to make a statement about the environmental sustainability of the fabrics and the importance of a sense of Community, something that the Wichi people work on every day through their collective way of life, where “I” is replaced by “We”.
Visiting THE IMPENETRABLE FOREST:
Room 24 of Somerset House, during London Design Biennale
From 4th -23rd September: Mon-Tue-Sat -Sun, 11am-6pm; Wed – Fri, 11am- 8pm.
Curator: TRImarchi
Design team: TRImarchi Collective
Designers: Sol Marinucci, Sebastian Valdivia, Pablo Gonzalez Diaz, Javier Serena, Ariel Jinchuck.
Wichi artisans: Isabel Fernandez, Maricela Garcia, Anabel Martinez, Maricela Martinez, Sonia Fernandez, Verona Fernandez, Ayelen Fernandez, Angelina Fernandez, Evelin Fernandez, Lidia Paz, Juana Fernandez, Guillermina Fernandez, Orfilia Ibañez, Dominga Fernandez, Rosa Barraza, Carla Martinez, Mirta Tomas, Adolfina Tomas, Johana Perez de Siwani.
Sound design: Acampante.
Video: Leonardo Mercado
Printed design: Vicky Lamas
With the support of Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, the Embassy of Argentina in the United Kingdom, the Secretariat for Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture, British Council Argentina, TMDG.
London Design Biennale Authorities
President: Sir John Sorrell
Executive Director: Ben Evans
Director: Christopher Turner
London Design Biennale’s International Advisory Committee and Jury includes: David Adjaye, Paola Antonelli, Adelia Borges, Hadeel Ibrahim, Mitra Khoubrou, James Lingwood, Jeremy Myerson, Jonathan Reekie, Ana Elena Mallet, Kayoko Ota, Richard Rogers and Paula Scher.
For more info contact us pressoffice@argentine-embassy-uk.org