The Diary in July and August
Our pick of the best events over the next few months
Words by Sophie Tolhurst
1. Salone del Mobile
5–10 September
Milan, Italy
After much speculation, the rescheduled 59th Salone del Mobile will go ahead as a ‘unique’ edition called Supersalone coordinated by Stefano Boeri and a young international team. A new ‘fluid’ layout will work dynamically with a digital platform, and the event will welcome the general public for the first time.
salonemilano.it
2. How We Live Now: Reimagining Spaces with Matrix Feminist Design Cooperative
17 May–23 Dec
Barbican, London
This mix of installation, publication and events is based around the previously unseen archive of 1980s feminist design co-op Matrix. It also presents contemporary responses that look to empower voices often excluded in building design due to race, gender and disability.
barbican.org.uk
3. Biotoopia
26–28 August
Viinistu, Estonia and online
Image Credit: IVAR HÜTT
Forging links between the arts, sciences and the biosphere, this hybrid conference combines art, music and dance with guided nature trips. Speakers include biologist Monica Gagliano, philosopher Timothy Morton, cultural historian Ewa Domanska, artist Timur Si-Qin and biologist and writer Andreas Weber.
biotoopia.ee
4. HC Andersen’s House
Opens 30 June
Odense, Denmark
Image Credit: KENGO KUMA & ASSOCIATES, CORNELIUS VÖGE, MASU
Kengo Kuma & Associates’s new building for the Hans Christian Andersen museum in Denmark opens in June, inviting visitors into a ‘children’s universe’. Circular forms are entwined with a labyrinthine garden landscape, while the underground museum is entered via a tree – inspired by Andersen’s fairytale The Tinderbox.
hcandersenshus.dk
5. Michael Armitage: Paradise Edict
22 May–19 September
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Image Credit: WHITE CUBE ( THEO CHRISTELIS)
Influenced by Titian, Goya, Manet and Gauguin, as well as Jak Katarikawe, Meek Gichugu and Chelenge van Rampelberg, Kenyanborn Armitage’s colourful, layered narrative paintings question political, cultural and religious norms, and explore current events in East Africa.
royalacademy.org.uk