New York City, March 7, 2017–Launched in 2016, Oui Design is a multifaceted program developed by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy that aims to foster creative exchange in the sphere of design between France and the U.S.
It is the first program initiated by the French Embassy to support fruitful and durable partnerships between design professionals on both sides of the Atlantic. The program supports and initiates creative collaborations among designers, artisans, curators, inventors, researchers, teachers, students, and manufacturers. It also brings French designers to the U.S. to exhibit their work, and to engage with industry professionals and the public.
The first edition of the program took place during the framework of NYCxDESIGNin May 2016 in New York City. Oui Design co-presented over 20 events, which welcomed thousands of design enthusiasts and professionalsat WantedDesign in Brooklyn and Manhattan; the Museum of Arts and Design; Cooper Hewitt, and the Smithsonian Design Museum, among other prestigious arts institutions. A cluster of diverse workshops, exhibitions, and talks resulting from Oui Design-driven collaborations will take place in New York from April 25 to Sept. 3, 2017. The Paris-based graphic design duo Antoine+Manuel was invited to create this year’s Oui Design visual identity, drawing inspiration from construction games and decomposing forms.
Oui Design at WantedDesign Brooklyn
Two of the projects presented in New York are developed in collaboration with WantedDesign (in continuation of the 2016 partnership): Transatlantic Creative Exchangeand Hors Pistes.Both will be on view atWantedDesign Brooklyn (May 16-23, 2017).
Transatlantic Creative Exchange
through the creation of French-American duos comprised of one designer and one manufacturer each, teams experimented and explored new realms, forms and objects together. The exhibit features the documentation of the process and result of this unprecedented dialog that brings different cultures, design approaches and savoir faire together in one sublime expression. After a first session that was showcased at WantedDesign Brooklyn in 2016, the Transatlantic adventure continues in 2017 with 5 new “manufacturer + designer” duos: The Corning Museum of Glass, CMoG (USA) + Pauline Deltour (France) /UHURU (USA) + Constance Guisset (France) / Ateliers Pinton (France) + David Weeks (USA) / Saint-Louis Cristallerie and Fondation Hermes (France) + David McNabb (USA) / La Manufacture Cogolin (France) + Jason Miller (USA) [bios available upon request]
Hors Pistes
a collaborative residency program co-founded by designers Marie Douel and Amandine David in 2013 and designed to bring craftsmen together with designers to share skills, techniques. Hors Pistes enables young designers to discover foreign traditional techniques, and artisans to diversify the field of application of their know-how. As a U.S. premiere, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy will present at WantedDesign, as part of their program Oui Design, a selection of objects, images and publications from the two previous Hors Pistes workshops held in Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou in 2013 and Banfora in 2014).
Oui Design presents Robert Stadler, in partnership with the Noguchi Museum
Solid Doubts: Robert Stadler at the Noguchi Museum will run from April 25 through September 3, 2017. Co-curated by Stadler and Noguchi Museum Senior Curator Dakin Hart, the exhibition will be comprised of four distinct installations of Stadler and Noguchi’s work in the galleries and in the sculpture garden. The exhibition represents the Museum’s ongoing engagement with contemporary artists of all disciplines, illuminating the scope of Noguchi’s vision and his continuing impact on our culture. It is the Museum’s first exhibition to feature a contemporary designer’s work in dialogue with Noguchi’s sculptures and designs.
Coinciding with the exhibition, Carpenters Workshop Gallery will present a solo exhibition, ‘ Weight Class’ of Robert Stadler in their New York City location, on view from April 27 to June 17. Also during that time an installation ‘Waiting Room: Isamu Noguchi/ Robert Stadler’ co-curated by Noguchi Museum Senior Curator Dakin Hartwill, be presented at the Collective Design Fair, New York, from May 2 to May 7. Oui Design is supported by Institut Français-Paris, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, FACE Foundation, the Florence Gould Foundation, Van Cleef & Arpels, Air France.
About
the Cultural Services of the French Embassy The Cultural Services of the French Embassy promotes the best of French arts, literature, cinema, digital innovation, language, and higher education across the US. Based in New York City, Washington D.C., and eight other cities across the country, the Cultural Services brings artists, authors, intellectuals and innovators to cities nationwide. It also builds partnerships between French and American artists, institutions and universities on both sides of the Atlantic. In New York, through its bookshop Albertine, it fosters French-American exchange around literature and the arts. www.frenchculture.org Contact – Oui DesignCamille Desprez, Press Attachée, Cultural Services of the French Embassy, + 1(212) 439-1417 –camille.desprez@diplomatie.gouv.fr