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10 Apr 2024 (2 min) read
Ceramic sculptors Andile Dyalvane and Zizipho Poswa both have works featured in LOEWE’s first public exhibition Crafted World at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre until 5 May 2024.
Curated by LOEWE’s creative director Jonathan Anderson, the presentation charts LOEWE’s 178-year history of creativity, innovation and excellence in craft - it is ‘an homage to all the craftspeople around the world that have dedicated their lives to the handmade.’ Designed in collaboration with OMA, the studio behind some of the most ground-breaking buildings of the 21st century, Crafted World offers visitors a chance to immerse themselves in iconic designs andcultural collaborations that have illuminated LOEWE’s evolution from its founding asa leather-making collective in Madrid in 1846, to becoming one of the world’s leadingluxury fashion houses.
The exhibition unfolds over 1,600 square metres and the courtyard of the exhibition centre. The story transports the audience to the sights and sounds of Spain, and behind the scenes of the atelier and the many steps needed to bring a design to life. Crafted World is curated around six thematic chapters showcasing the house’s progressive approach to fashion and the culture of craft - these include: ‘Born from the Hand’, ‘Welcome to Spain’, ‘The Atelier’, ‘Fashion Without Limits’, ‘United in Craft’ and ‘Unexpected Dialogues’.
‘Fashion Without Limits’recreates the feeling of a runway show in a room showcasing a series of 69 looks from various collections throughout Anderson’s tenure as creative director. The mannequins have been placed on plinths and in dialogue with works of art from the LOEWE art collection that evoke his designs’ bold silhouettes. This is where Poswa’s piece Mireille Kamyanya, Congo (2022) can be found, a work forming part of her iconic uBuhle boKhokho series which draws its inspiration from the elaborate art of styling hair, a practice equally domestic as it is sacred for Black women across Africa and its diaspora.
Dyalvane’s work Cornish Wall (2019) from his Leach Pottery series created during his residency at The Leach Pottery in Cornwall (UK) in 2019, is located in the ‘United in Craft’ section which celebrates the joy of making things with one’s hands and shows how LOEWE supports craft around the world. This chapter features works from the annual LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize and includes videos telling their stories. Cornish Wall received a Special Mention at the 2022 LOEWE Foundation Craft Prize.
Other highlights include super-sized leather sculptures, an ascending ‘pronunciation tunnel’ designed to help show how to say “LO-EV-EH”, a series of knee-high exhibits designed with children in mind, and a moving, suspended flower garden set inside an infinite hall of mirrors, to name but a few.