Coinciding with the opening of Design Miami/ 2010, CULTURED is a specially curated and richly varied program of events, openings, art exhibitions, and retail promotions, which will launch in the Miami Design District on Wednesday, December 1 and will run through Sunday, December 5. While Design Miami/ will be the focus of South Beach, CULTURED will keep the Design District buzzing throughout the week with an exciting, not-to-be-missed series of one-off experiences, VIP events, and special installations in retail outlets and galleries throughout the District.
“The dynamic programming we have lined up through CULTURED is sure to make the Design District more vibrant and exciting than ever,” says Craig Robins, Chief Executive Officer and President of Dacra and Principal and Co-Founder of Design Miami/. “At Dacra, we’re committed to teaming up with the most creative, talented, and inspiring partners possible. We are confident that this year’s programming will make for a one-of-a-kind experience for our guests and collaborators.”
From the launch of the late Alexander McQueen’s collection for the Rug Company to the grand opening of Poliform’s newly redesigned showroom to a special movie theater created by Duncan Quinn that will show classic Michael Caine films, there will be no shortage of imagination, creativity, and culture in the District.
The Miami Design District is a unique, 18 square-block neighborhood just north of downtown Miami. Developed by Dacra, the Miami Design District is an example of Dacra’s commitment to building neighborhoods united by creativity, design, and commerce. The company builds and supports innovative and prosperous communities by taking a curatorial approach to development and by establishing communities where architecture, art, design, and culture play key roles. Dacra was instrumental in bringing Art Basel to Miami and launched Design Miami/ to coincide with Art Basel in both Miami and Basel, Switzerland. The Miami Design District has hosted Design Miami/ every year since its founding in 2005, along with creating special programming to run alongside the show.
This year, for the first time in its history, Design Miami/ will take place in South Beach Miami, adjacent to Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Shuttle buses will provide free transportation for Design Miami/ guests between the Miami Beach Convention Center parking lot and the Design District.
For its inaugural outing, CULTURED will gather together a world-renowned selection of designers, artists, and retailers including FriendsWithYou, Rirkrit Tiravanija, United Nude, Christian Louboutin, The Rug Company, and more. Programming highlights include:
de la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art Space will mount a special installation inspired by a portrait that Salvador Dali painted in 1955, of Dolores Suero Falla, Carlos de la Cruz’s mother. Anchored in Surrealism and covering a broad stylistic and conceptual range of works, this year’s exhibition will try to establish a dialogue between Dali’s portrait and a selection of works from the collection.
23 NE 41st Street
November 30-December 5
Open: 9am-4pm
Each year during Art Basel Miami Beach the Craig Robins Collection is a hub of activity, attracting hundreds of visitors throughout the week. Visitors are offered guided tours of the Robins Collection which features some of the top artists and designers working today including John Baldessari, Marlene Dumas, Richard Tuttle, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Marc Newson, Ron Arad and Zaha Hadid, among others.
December 3, 4
9am – 12 pm
By appointment only: RSVP@dacra.com
3841 NE 2nd Ave, Suite 400
Locust Projects will present Saturday’s Ransom, an ambitious new project by Miami-based artist Jim Drain. Drain is the 2005 winner of the prestigious Baloise Art Prize and has exhibited work at institutions and galleries across the United States and internationally. This will be his first solo exhibition in Miami.
November 30-December 4
9am – 3pm
Thursday, December 2: Opening reception for Jim Drain and Liam Gillick, 7pm-10pm.
155 NE 38th Street, Suite 100
FriendsWithYou, the multidisciplinary art collaborative established in 2002 by Miami-based artists Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III, will present Rainbow City. This unique installation will showcase a city of inflatable sculptures that allow visitors the opportunity to create their own story amongst the artists’ work.
Palm Lot – NE 38th Street & NE 1st Ave
Internationally acclaimed artist Rirkrit Tiravanija will curate an exhibition of emerging performance-based artists especially for the Miami Design District. Rirkrit selected three former students–Lior Shvil, Aki Sasamoto and Naama Tsabar—all of whom are currently making a wide range of performance works that tap into today’s culture.
December 3, 4
11am-10pm
Opening reception: December 2, 8pm
Performances: December 2, 3, and 4, 9pm-10pm
4141 NE 2nd Avenue Suites #101C, #101D, #101E
For “Small Reprieve,” artist Jim Drain has been commissioned to transform the façade of a vacant lot in the Miami Design District. Drain collaborated with students from the neighborhood’s Design and Architecture Senior High School to create a vinyl wrap scrim that evokes majestic stained glass. The project is a special commission by Carlos & Rosa de la Cruz, Craig Robins of Dacra Development, and Asi Cymbal of Cymbal Development.
NE 41st Street & NE 1st Ave
Presented by the Taiwan Craft Research Institute, Yii – Change in Transformation in Taiwan will bring the unchanging laws of nature, exquisite craft, and original design to Miami’s Design District. Joining the exhibit is Taiwan-based artist Aihua Hsia, who, through her lacquer figurines, illustrates the collectiveness of our heredity.
180 NE 39th St., Suite 120
Centro Cultural Español will present “Mover la roca” (Move the boulder),” which gathers the works of five Dominican visual artists who reflect on the social and cultural situation of their island. These artists from Quintapata (Fifthleg) seek to protest the lack of interest for contemporary art in this Caribbean country. Artists include Tony Capellán, Pascal Meccariello, Raquel Paiewonsky, Jorge Pineda, and Belkis Ramírez. Curated by Fernando Castro Flórez.
4040 NE 2nd Avenue, Suite 200
Robert Indiana’s “the Hartley Elegies” consists of 10 large-scale prints created by Robert Indiana in honor of American modernist painter and poet Marsden Hartley. These pieces are often considered the most powerful and successful works he ever produced. Indiana views them as his most personal because they reflect not only his identity, but also that of his idol.
Etra Fine Art
50 NE 40th Street
Avant Gallery will present the artist Alejandro Vigilante, the founder of the i-Art Movement, which focuses on the role of the Internet in contemporary art. The gallery will also present a new armchair by Los Angeles based designer Cory Grosser in collaboration with Walt Disney Signature. The new chair is inspired by KEM Weber’s Airline Chair from 1934, which Walt Disney selected when he built the original Disney animation studio in Burbank, CA.
Exhibition opens December 2nd.
3859 N. Miami Avenue
Haiti Art Expo is an art exhibition representing the famous artists of Haiti and offers extraordinary objets d’art and photography. Each piece sold will provide a home for the victims of the January 12th earthquake. Presented by Michael Capponi, Jeff Feldman, Neil Koppel, and Michele Frisch, who have all been actively involved with the relief efforts, the Haiti Art Expo captures the essence of Haiti’s past, present, and future.
161 NE 40th Street, Suite 201
DESIGN
Bisazza and Oppenheim Architecture + Design will host Tropical Modernism, which will showcase a selection of forthcoming projects. Founded by Chad Oppenheim, OAD is based in Miami, but operates globally with worldwide experience in hospitality, office, high-rise, retail, residential and mixed-use design as well as the complete master planning and design of new cities. To accompany the exhibition, Bisazza and OAD will run two architectural tours on Tropical Modernism. Each tour will last one hour and culminate in a private visit to Villa Allegra.
December 1
11am and 3pm
Bisazza
3740 Northeast 2nd Avenue
Luminaire Lab will be filled with a series of installations that explore the poetics of design, time, space, materials and movement. Featuring work by both established and up-and-coming luminaries, the Lab will host an exhibition by renowned Italian designer Angelo Mangiarotti as well as a display of objects by the avant-garde Gruppo T. Additionally, Luminaire Lab will highlight rising design stars including François Brument, whose one of a kind vessels result from sound waves combined with digital 3-D modeling techniques, as well as a site-specific installation by Japanese designer Nao Tamura, whose delicate work explores themes of nature and the seasons.
December 1- December 4
11am – 7pm
3901 NE 2nd Avenue
Poliform will celebrate the grand opening of their newly redesigned and expanded Miami showroom. New Poliform homes including designs by Marcel Wanders, Paola Navone, Carlo Colombo, Emmanuel Gallina, Vincent van Duysen, and many more will be on display.
December 1- December 4
11am – 7pm
180 NE 39th St., #101
Cappellini will present the TRON Armchair Special Production in collaboration with Walt Disney Signature, designed by Dror Benshetrit. A special range of unique chairs custom hand-finished by Benshetrit, inspired by Disney’s soon-to-be-released film “TRON: Legacy” will be shown.
December 1- December 4
11am – 7pm
101 NE 39th Street
Shortly before Alexander McQueen passed, The Rug Company created its most opulent collection to date with the late fashion visionary and legend. Three years in the making, the first pieces are now complete and will be unveiled during Art Basel and Design Miami, as part of a global tour.
December 1- December 4
11am – 7pm
4040 E 2nd Ave., Suite 102
FASHION
BALLYLove is a collection of products designed by an international contemporary artist in collaboration with the Bally design team. In line with Bally’s philosophy, this special capsule collection will be powered by love and dedication to fashion, art and creativity; a natural collaboration resulting in a special and exclusive product range.
December 1- December 4
11am – 7pm
191 NE 40th St., Suite 101
Tomas Maier will host artists Lisa Eisner and Deflinfa Delettrez Fendi. Eisner, a former fashion editor at Mademoiselle and American Vogue and co-founder of Greybull Press, is best known for her photographic explorations of the American West. Her latest work, Psychonaut focuses on nature and is an amalgam of the past four years of her work. A fourth generation Italian designer, Deflinfa Delettrez Fendi founded her jewelry collection, Delfina Delettrez, in Rome in 2007. Her latest collection, WE-MAN, first presented in Paris in October 2010, is inspired by great women of the past who blurred the line between feminine and masculine.
December 1- December 4
11am – 7pm
170 NE 40th Street
For the 5PRCITY Photo Project, United Nude will create a combined retail/art gallery space featuring architectural footwear and photographs from famous and soon to be famous artists from China. Being well connected within China’s creative industries, the 5PRCITY photo project was initiated by United Nude with a selection of China’s leading photographers. The simple theme of the show, “Women and the City,” will highlight women in China’s five main cities – Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Chengdu.
December 1- December 4
11am – 7pm
161 NE 40th St., Suite 100
Christian Louboutin has designed a limited edition shoe to benefit microfinance, which provides the poor with access to very small loans in order to start and run small businesses. “Peace of Shoe” is a classic, peep-toe platform covered in luxurious silk satin, trimmed with hand stitched and embroidered Indian ribbon. Only 33 pairs were produced worldwide, and each is numbered and signed by Mr. Louboutin. The shoes will be available in Miami with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit microfinance.
December 1- December 4
11am – 7pm
155 NE 40th St.
This year Duncan Quinn will take on a Casino Royale theme with a gambling pit and black tie staff. Keeping true to vintage style, a section of the boutique will be transformed into a movie theater complete with vintage seats, popcorn, and classic Michael Caine movies. DQ bespoke and ready to wear special edition tees, polos, shorts, jeans and other items will be launched during Design Miami/.
December 1- December 4
11am – 7pm
4040 NE 2nd Ave., #102
Maison Martin Margiela will present an in-store installation taken from their 20-year anniversary exhibition based on the evolution of the Margiela silhouette. Five 3-dimensional renderings of iconic Margiela silhouettes will be on display. Also available during Design Miami/ will be a limited edition MMM specialty item.
December 1- December 4
11am – 7pm
3930 NE 2nd Ave., #101
En Avance will present the House of Loveness photo exhibit by the children of Zimbabwe. Photos will be for sale to benefit House of Loveness which supports the needs of abandoned, orphaned, and underserved children in Zimbabwe.
December 1- December 4
11am – 7pm
161 NE 40th St.