Linen, a product historically associated with Belgian design and craft, creates a functionally practical, environmentally-conscious, and texturally inviting base for this 47 inches by 70 inches grey-hued floor mat. This rug by Kasiers is a stand-out representative of the show’s material and social sentiments. The bordering of spiky reeds, called Step Gigantea, carves a plot of seclusion and intimacy for the napper while also building a dramatic, almost sculptural, effect to the eye, fitting for a show about simplicity with an edge. The French designer created the rug, which also moonlights as a bed to nap on, at Lisbon’s Museum of Popular Art in collaboration with Portuguese designers Mariana Campos and Ana Paula Abrunhosa. “No matter how wild the pieces look, all of the designers are interested in respecting the materials and their origins,” Fimmano says, and a good example is Cogné’s woven reed rug, Clareira.
See works from each designer featured in “The Gift To Be Simple” below. “There is perhaps a sensitivity aligned with natural materials, and maybe the grouping of nine women designers says something about this aspect of making objects,” Fimmano explains.
The all-women roster has been fully coincidental but a statement on female labor and women’s right to claim their autonomy is not lost on the curators. “We wanted to blend the simple everyday experience of engaging with furniture and objects with the textures of organic materials,” says Fimmano. Textural quality and the experience of touch are essential in Edelkoort and Fimmano’s concert of designers, which includes Emma Cogné, Natalia Brilli, Céline Vahsen, and Pascale Risbourg. ‘Tis the gift to be simple ’tis the gift to be free, the lyrics start. This curatorial commitment starts with the show’s title, “ The Gift To Be Simple,” which adopts a line from the 1848-dated Shaker song, “Simple Gifts,” commonly attributed to Elder Joseph Brackett. “We are blending the Belgian design’s interest in materials and the Shaker design legacy in the U.S.,” adds Fimmano. Their curatorial theme also nods to the Shaker aesthetic. “When we set out calls with possible contributors, we realized many were in fact focusing on natural fibers and un-dyed materials,” Fimmano says.
Their return to New York Textile Month to curate Belgium Is Design-following 2019’s Textiles Revealed show-explores these trends through the works of nine designers. Belgium Is Design Spotlights Work by Women as Part of New York Textile MonthĪlthough trend forecaster, Lidewij Edelkoort, and trend analyst, Philip Fimmano, have been brewing the idea of simplicity for a few years, the pandemic escalated the duo’s interest in fuss-free aesthetics, organic materials, and humble user interactions.
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