From the keyboard used to type the words of this story, to the screen that you’re reading it on, everything surrounding us has gone through a meticulous design process.
We’ve become so accustomed to this fact that few of us can say with confidence that we truly think about the origins of the products we use on a daily basis.
Melbourne-based artist, Anna Caione is the exception to the norm in this case, dedicating much of her time to increasing public awareness and interest in all things design.
Anna currently teaches at Swinburne University and presents a lecture dedicated to Italian design once a semester, where she aims to share her longstanding interest on this topic with her students.
Moving beyond the classroom, Anna will take a lecture on “An Introduction to 20th Century Italian Design” at the Italian Cultural Institute on October 20, discussing how, with financial assistance from the US, Italy used design and manufacturing to recover from the war and advance as a society.
“The lecture is really about post-war Italy and the boom they had; I think they were really positive times just after World War II for Italians and it was a huge rejuvenation for the country,” Anna said.
Prior to completing her Master of Fine Arts in 2002 and exhibiting in Melbourne galleries for over a decade, Anna spent a year studying at the Accademia Albertina delle Belle Arti in Turin, where she connected with her Italian heritage and used her experiences to further develop herself as an artist.
“A cousin of mine was working at the Institute of Art there at the time, so I ended up living with her and all of her friends were in a cohort of artists, poets and writers, so it was a really interesting group of people,” Anna said.
“I find that when I lived in Italy that year, I was exposed to many situations which I thought I could relate to that I kind of never realised when I was living in Australia, and my senses were awakened on another level.”
Nowadays, much of Anna’s art is inspired by her Italian background and her connection with the Belpaese.
“I just believe we all have cultural elements that are genetic; they stay with us for many years and it’s intergenerational,” Anna said.
An example of this, is Anna’s attitude towards products and design, as she explains the way in which she carefully chooses each piece of furniture in her house, learning about where it came from and who made it - a trait which she associates with her Italian roots rather than the Australian “consumerist society” in which she currently lives.
“Generally speaking, Italians will buy quality furniture - even if it’s bad taste – and it’ll be furniture that stays with them forever,” Anna explained.
“Even in fashion, if you look, you’ll notice that Italians wear the same garment for ages, but it’s an Armani.”
In her lecture, Anna will take us on a journey through time, explaining how Italian design transformed in the prosperous post-war era as a result of collaboration between craftsmen and unemployed artchitects turned industrial designers, leading to the nation becoming an international leader in manufacture and design.
“There was this huge design movement, not just in Italy but across the world, and design was really seen as a way of reforming society and creating a society that was equal and classless,” Anna said.
“It was very much a utopian idea that was stemmed from the Bauhaus, so that everybody had access to design, and good design.”
Through her lecture, Anna hopes to open the minds of her audience, encouraging people to consciously think about where different products come from and the design process involved.
“With anything I do, I just hope that people have been exposed to something new, and that they look at the world in a different way,” Anna said.
“It’s always about educating people - whatever that means - and widening and broadening their knowledge and experiences.”
