New Design Platform Connects Italy, Egypt To Foster Creative Discussion
By Arab News
By Francesco Bongarra
A digital platform will connect Italy and Egypt on the basis of design, architecture and landscaping, with incursions in fashion and art.
The new digital magazine, called “Cairo Milano Design,” a joint venture by Fuorisalone and Egyptian specialized magazine El Beit Magazine, will be active from April 15.
The magazine will be a section of the portal www.fuorisalone.it and hopes to develop physical extensions next September during the Milan Design Week, the biggest exhibition on interior design in Italy, welcoming every year thousands of visitors from all over the world. A presentation by Egyptian designers is expected to be organized during the event.
The new platform aims to “keep pace with the great boom in the fields of creativity, design, and industry, and to open areas of cooperation and dialogue with different cultures, which contribute to the development of the creative industry in Egypt,” as was explained during a news conference at the Italian Institute of Culture in Cairo, attended by Arab News.
Through the platform, design creators in Egypt and Italy will open channels of communication to discuss architecture, decoration and design, as well as real-estate development and industry.
It will enable Egyptian artists to display their products on the Fuorisalone platform alongside other internationally recognized brands, said Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Cairo Davide Scalmani.
“The pandemic demonstrated the importance of opening new and different communication channels that bring together professionals in the field of architecture and design in Egypt and Italy,” Salmani said.
Ezz Al-Arab, founder of the Cairo Milano Design platform, stressed that this joint venture “is the first of its kind in the region and would be supported by Fuorisalone’s wide, varied and professional platform.”
She explained that the project was motivated by Italian interest in getting to know the Egyptian creative force behind national projects in Egypt and to open up opportunities for cooperation between the two sides.
“The platform will give Egyptian creators and designers a tremendous opportunity to present their work in the European market in general and in the Italian market in particular, and it will build bridges of cooperation between Cairo, with its rich and vibrant history and heritage, and Milan, which is considered the design capital of the world,” she added.
Cristian Confalonieri from Fuorisalone explained that the Cairo Milano Design platform paves the way for “long-term cooperation between Egyptian and Italian entrepreneurs and the provision of a wide range of services and job opportunities.” He added that the project can be seen as an important catalyst for creating a new cultural product and fostering cooperation in various business fields for the two countries involved.
