Featuring designer Jaime Hayon, photographers Pieter Hugo and Laia Abril, musician Joy Frempong, artist Nico Vascellari and 100 additional artists from Fabrica 

NEW DELHI and TREVISO, Italy, July 8, 2024 -- Fabrica, Benetton Group's research centre, celebrated its 30th birthday with a festival open to the public on Saturday 6 July, from 10 AM until midnight.

To mark the occasion, Fabrica's headquarters – a masterpiece by Japanese architect Tadao Ando – opened its doors for a day of exhibitions, concerts, DJ sets, lectures, workshops, performances and screenings featuring artists who have shared their experiences at Fabrica since 1994.

Over the past thirty years, some 800 Fabricanti from 72 different countries – including designers, researchers, photographers, video makers, directors, musicians, writers and journalists – have spent part of their training in the rooms, corridors and 'agora' of this building, where the beauty of Italy's architectural tradition meets the harmony and simplicity of oriental philosophy.

The packed schedule of events for the FABRICA30 REUNION FESTIVAL – which sees the involvement of over 100 participants in past Fabrica programmes – included a series of lectures presenting the creativity and careers of a number of the centre's alumni, such as Spanish designer Jaime Hayon, South African photographer Pieter Hugo, Spanish photographer Laia Abril and Italian artist Nico Vascellari. It was an occasion to discover new visions of the worlds of design, art and gastronomy, as well as an opportunity to explore transdisciplinary perspectives on the creative practices of the future, confront the history of misogyny and contemplate the perfect balance between beauty and asymmetry.

The music programme offered several performances, concerts and DJ sets featuring former residents and demonstrating the vast range of talents, genres and sounds to emerge from the centre: from the intercultural East and West music of Elana Sasson (Iran/USA) to the ethereal soundscapes produced by the hypnotic guitar of Ava Rasti (Iran); from the alchemic electronic sounds created by Uy Duc Tran (Vietnam) to the high-tech magic of lasers by Hansi Raber (Austria); from the esoteric selections of Adam Lieber (South Africa) and John Borno (Netherlands) to a performance by Nico Vascellari (Italy) with Carlos Casas (Spain) that promised an epic 'clash' of global sounds. The evening concluded with a performance by the German duo OY – an amazing symbiosis of percussion instruments, minimalist sounds and dream-like voices – after which Italian disco master Bottin and Berlin techno DJ Joseph Paul had guests moving to the beat.

The exhibition concluding Fabrica's Spring/Summer 2024 residency semester focused on 'Kinship', the sentiment of belonging to the same community, and transformed Tadao Ando's architecture into a fluid, open, shared space in which the Fabricanti interpreted the theme through performances, installations, videos, sculptures, paintings, photographs and text.

The campus' little church, the garden and other hidden corners hosted live performances and a variety of installations – including 'Ardna' ('Our land') by Mohammed El Hajoui (Italy-Morocco), which pays tribute to the Palestinian people, and 'Tecnosuolo', a sustainable design project by Davide Balda (Italy) – as well as the inauguration of a new garden 'seeded' by the Fabrica community.

The cinema held non-stop screenings of a selection of more than 20 artistic and experimental films, documentaries and animated features by Fabrica directors past and present, including Bill Morrison (USA), Saodat Ismailova (Uzbekistan), Alka Sadat (Afghanistan), Chelsea McMullan (Canada) and Michal Kosakowski (Poland) – an eclectic blend from five continents that highlights the multicultural dialogue that has always animated this special place.

The programme also included several workshops, including an introduction to photography for children by Japanese photographer Namiko Kitaura, a furniture design workshop for all ages with Jonathan Bocca (Italy), a drawing workshop by British artist Dryden Goodwin and a masterclass in design thinking by Nikola Tosic (Serbia).

Meanwhile, a selection of Fabricanti from all generations shared their new projects and ideas for the future at Fabrica Future Sessions, a series of speed pitching-style panels offering an opportunity to promote collaboration, share opinions and make new connections.

Finally, the Fabrica library – characterised by its unique architecture featuring a spiral staircase 'boring' into the ground and lit up from above – presented a selection of books and publications by alumni, offering an overview of the community's intellectual and artistic production.

About Fabrica

Founded in 1994, based on the vision of Luciano Benetton and Oliviero Toscani, Fabrica is a research centre in Treviso housed in a 17th-century villa restored and expanded by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Inspired by the Renaissance, with an approach based on learning by doing, Fabrica offers a free six-month residency programme for artists under 25 from all over the world. Each semester's research project focuses on a specific theme, explored through constant cross-pollination among different disciplines, such as photography, design, video, writing, music/sound, art and the digital media.

Fabrica also organises a programme of workshops, lectures and experiences in which the worlds of art, culture and research come together to forge new ideas.

www.fabrica.it

FABRICA30 REUNION FESTIVAL

Saturday 6 July

10:00-24:00

Open to the public, admission free

Workshops require registration at this link

Street food:

PT Catering - burgers, tacos, hot dogs, muffins, donuts and excellent beer served in a vintage Airstream

Le Papere Itineranti – ultra-light fried delicacies and traditional dishes from the Veneto region

Bottega del Gelato – artisanal gelato since 1989

Chill-out zones:

Dante Negro – a brand specialising in the design and handcrafting of wrought iron outdoor furnishings and architectural structures.

Bookshop in partnership with Librerie Lovat

Pop-up shop Codalunga

Kids' area Ponzano Children

Community Garden Piccolo Seeds

Thanks to Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche

With the support of the Municipality of Villorba

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2455748/Fabrica_Agor___Francesco_Radino.jpg

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2455749/BLOOMING_IN_EMBERS_Joe_Habben.jpg

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