ROME.- Local Icons: Greetings from Rome exhibition opened this week, the latest project of the partnership between Alcantara and the National Museum of XXI Century Art in Rome. At MAXXI from 27 March to 7 June 2015, the exhibition is a metaphorical journey around the Eternal City through creative reinterpretations of a number of emblematic objects.

“It’s hard nowadays to find objects that can be true local icons”, say the two curators, Giulio Cappellini for Alcantara and Domitilla Dardi, design curator, MAXXI Architettura, who decided to involve a number of designers with very close ties to Italy in a project that revisits Rome’s uniqueness with a contemporary twist.

Gentucca Bini, Lanzavecchia+Wai, Laudani&Romanelli, Paola Navone, Patricia Urquiola, Stefano Giovannoni, Zanellato/Bortotto: these are the protagonists of Local Icons.

Oversize versions of their memories of Rome revolve on a merry-go-round in the middle of the Carlo Scarpa Room.

The eloquent hand gestures so typical of Romans are the subject of Gentucca Bini’s Saluti da Roma (Greeting from Rome). Paola Navone’s Dolce Vita is a tricolour Vespa scooter. A traditional straw-wrapped wine bottle features in Laudani&Romanelli’s Oggetti per Roma (Objects for Rome). The Carciofone (Big Artichoke) by Zanellato/Bortotto reminds us of flavours and colours of Trastevere’s characteristic trattorias. Symbols of the warmth and authenticity of Rome. But there are also symbols of its history, such as Cupolone (The Dome) by Lanzavecchia+Wai who used printed Alcantara to reproduce the decoration of the domes of St Peter’s and the Pantheon inside their lampshades. As a homage to Ancient Rome, Stefano Giovannoni created Lalupa (SheWolf), a range of cases for hi-tech devices made of Alcantara where Rome’s famous she-wolf and twins motif is unexpectedly interpreted in Alcantara in an interplay of laser perforations and cuts. Lastly, Patricia Urquiola’s Chiusino (Manhole Cover) is a tablet case featuring a Roman manhole cover with its traditional S.P.Q.R. inscription.

Seven designs, also available in souvenir formats, together with other emblematic objects that Alcantara’s versatility interprets with a clear understanding of each one’s deepest meaning. A collection inspired by Rome and its rich cultural, historical and popular imagery and fuelled by the talent and sensitivity of artists who have created articles which are a part of our memories, objects that evoke very intimate emotions.

With Local Icons. Greetings from Rome, MAXXI and Alcantara begin a journey to find the images that define places rooted in a culture’s collective memory, and take a fresh look at them through new designs. Once more, MAXXI and Alcantara’s partnership highlights their shared focus on creativity and research and their extreme attention for the most diverse languages, experimentation and cultural innovation.

“The MAXXI-Alcantara project, now in its fourth edition, best reflects the museum’s mission and its commitment to promoting and supporting today’s creative talents,” states Giovanna Melandri, President of the MAXXI Foundation. “This project continues to prove the validity of a new form of partnership between public institutions and private companies, going beyond the classic notion of sponsorships and developing into a fully-fledged creative co-operation. Furthermore, the choice of a Rome-related subject allows MAXXI to emphasise, once again, its receptiveness to the city, its willingness to engage with the themes and ideas Rome inspires, through the visions of contemporary creative artists.”

“We’re pleased to renew our collaborative work with MAXXI,” says Andrea Boragno, President and CEO of Alcantara S.p.A., “especially for an exhibition such as this which evokes our most personal memories and puts the accent on Alcantara’s values. Our material’s ability to “dress” any design in innovative elegance and its natural versatility make it the ideal choice in every field. It defines a unique lifestyle in which aesthetic emotion merges with functionality and respect for our environment. A versatility that is fuelled through our constant dialogue with the creative world, as seen in our alliance with MAXXI.”

Margherita Guccione, Director of MAXXI Architettura, underlines this vision. "Yet again our innovative museum/company co-operation model is based on a co-production of a shared cultural project. This year’s theme addresses recollection and memories of travel and of a city with such a strong monumental and historic character as Rome. The designers’ reinterpretations are in harmony with the predisposition to contemporaneity that MAXXI seeks to represent in the Eternal City through innovative, experimental research projects such as those generated by the MAXXI-Alcantara partnership."