Naturalis Historia: Lake Como Design Festival Embarks

Ahead of its fifth return from September 16 to 24 2023, Lake Como Design Festival announced its curators, programme, locations, exhibitions and schedule of talks. 

This edition Lake Como Design Festival chooses the observation of nature as its guiding theme. In the year of the Bimillenary of the birth of Pliny the Elder (Como, 23 A.D.), the title of this new event, “Naturalis Historia,” aims to pay tribute to the writer and naturalist, highlighting his eclectic character and his curiosity for forgotten things, new things, and valuable things.

In 2023 the Festival presents two exhibitions that will enliven the historic centre of Como during the event: two exhibitions focused on nature and the animal world, inspired by Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia. This work gives the title to the 2023 edition of the festival.

Among the numerous initiatives of the 2023 Lake Como Design Festival edition, taking place from September 16 to 24, 2023, in the city of Como, and unfolding through a series of talks, installations, and widespread events, there are two exhibitions hosted in the city centre in collaboration with Arte Applicata: “Between Art and Nature: Photographs from the collection of Fondazione Sozzani” and “The Other Animals.” The two exhibitions aim to emphasize the close relationship between the arts and nature, exploring in an unconventional way the “four kingdoms” analyzed by Pliny the Elder in his monumental book Naturalis Historia.

The fifth edition opens the doors of the historic Villa Olmo with a new event that brings together designers, artists, publishers, and galleries of modern and contemporary design. A series of special projects unfold in a unique setting, immersed in a large Italian garden overlooking the first basin of Lake Como. Among the exhibitors who will grace the villa rooms are Kris Ruhs, Ken Scott Archive, Movimento, Draga & Aurel, and many others.

The Lake Como Design Festival is an annual themed event that offers exhibition, reflection and research through a series of events in the historic centre of the city of Como and around the lake that bears its name. These exhibitions, lectures, and events occur in historical, unknown and almost forgotten places. The festival’s mission is to create an original dialogue between history, design, architecture and art.

Dates: September 16 – 24, 2023

Info: info@lakecomodesignfestival.com

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