The Bright Side of Design

An exhibition that took place in various spaces around Nilufar Depot and Nilufar Gallery Via della Spiga, the heart of the Brera district, the main location of the project, where the conversation between historical design and disruptive visions arose in 1979.

Some reminiscent pieces of what is pure, natural and primal were in charge of welcoming visitors to the gallery and attracting the attention of passers-by; of every person who walked by that shop window adorned with the branch-shaped lamps of Maximilian Marchesani. A claim in the form of an artistic piece with which to establish an earthly, almost visceral connection with the gallery.

Each of the small worlds recreated in the Nilufar gallery during Milan Design Week were expressed as words of an artistic discourse of great creative wealth. Bì.li.co, the Maximilian Marchesani show curated by Studio Vedèt, pronounces one of the parts of a proclamation that vindicates art as a tool for social transformation.

The story behind ‘Noveconi Chandelier’, the lamp presented by Joe Armitage also deserves to be told. Designed exclusively for Nilufar on the occasion of design week, for the London-based designer, “the chandelier is an evolution of the Armitage collection of lamps on a scale never seen before.” The collection is inspired by the original floor lamp designed in 1952 by architect Edward Armitage, who traveled from London to Ludhiana, India, in 1952 with his wife Marthe. They lived there for two years while he designed and built a hospital commissioned by the newly formed Indian government. During his time there, he started a furniture series. One of them was a floor lamp.

Nilufar Gallery founder Nina Yashar presented her own reflections and observations within a seamlessly blended dialogue between the old masters and contemporary creators, giving center stage to a plethora of inanimate life companions. Old friends like Michael Anastassiades, Flavie Audie, Lola Montes Schnabel, Osanna Visconti, Khaled El Mays, Gal Gaon and Robinson Ferreux showed a strong relationship with the gallery. But also new names like Allegra Hicks, Maarten De Ceulaer, Marco Lavit, Joe Armitage, Lucia Massari and Niccolò Spirito.

Originally specializing in antique rugs, Nilufar Gallery ventured into modern and contemporary design in the late 1990s, showcasing the great designers of the mid-century alongside one-of-a-kind rugs, avant-garde furniture designs, and pieces created by emerging talents. Since the 2000s, the gallery has established itself as an international reference point for lovers of historical and contemporary design. Its founder, Nina Yashar, was born in Tehran in 1957 but has lived in Milan since she was a child. In Italy, her father became a major merchant of Persian rugs and precious textiles. 

Nina began her career working alongside him, until she opened her own business at age 21. In his more than forty-year career, she has forged an unrivaled portfolio of projects, exhibitions, furniture, talent discoveries that have changed the face of collectible design. Her characteristic taste is a unique mix of seemingly distant worlds. It is not a banal detail that Crossing was the title of one of her first catalogs, an essential guide for many people around the world still today.