Design and Art Take Over Milan

Milan Art Week is the widespread event coordinated by the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Milan. The main public institutions and private foundations of the city come together with a variety of exhibitions and events, including the Salone del Mobile and the miart fair.

This year is the 61st edition of the Salone del Mobile, which averages more than 370,000 attendees from 188 different countries every year. Every year, the Salone dominates Milan’s Design Week due to the huge crowds of suppliers and customers it brings into the city. The event is a testament to an extraordinary curiosity, willingness and openness to discussion, and ability to progress and innovate. The Salone takes place at Fiera Milano Rho from April 18th-23rd, 2023.

This year, the Salone has taken not just aesthetic affinity into account when positioning the brands, but also their targets, in order to optimize and expand meetings between visitors and exhibitors. The hundreds of exhibitors and the thousands of products showcased are confirmation of the importance of the Salone Internazionale del Mobile as an international forum for creativity. 

The Salone Internazionale del Mobile along with the International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition, S.Project and Workplace 3.0 take the field with Euroluce, this year with a completely renewed exhibition format. Over the last few difficult years due to COVID-19, the Salone has initiated a concrete revision of its exhibition format, geared to continuing to generate value for the entire design community. The exhibitors from the upper pavilions (8-12, 16-20) move into the lower ones to simplify accessibility and enhance the visitor experience.  

Salone del Mobile showcases 1,962 exhibitors, making up 30% of foreign companies presented, and has 170,308 square meters of exhibition space. The Salone Satellite showcases 550 designers and 27 international design schools and Euroluce presents 321 exhibitors, 45% of which are international.

Another art fair in Milan this weekend was miart, which showcases international modern and contemporary art. The keyword for the 27th edition of miart is “Crescendo”, a theme to outline the progressive growth in audiences recorded in the last two years and desire to continue this trajectory beyond 2023. The theme of “Crescendo” is also emphasized through new features at this year’s edition. For the first time ever music is used to convey themes of the fair and miart LIVE at Triennale Milano hosted a series of meetings held around the theme of “the ability of art to grip other places and disciplines far from traditional containers”. Miart showcased 169 participating galleries and had a significant 40% increase of international reach of the event, with a total of 27 countries present.

-Elli Klauda