How does globalization influence design? How does the market change? And, does artistic creation need to adjust? International experts discussed this at the symposium COSMOPOLITAN – Switzerland organized by Pro Helvetia at Milans XXI International Triennale Exhibition.

 

«78 % of Chinese consumers use the internet for shopping», says the Shanghai design journalist Mimi Yan at the symposium on the impact of globalization on design, organized by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia at Milans XXI International Triennale Exhibition. «The shopping malls in China are empty. The mall and shops are still there – but what they need is an additional offer with restaurants, cinemas etc. There are more and more such culture complexes and people go there, but not for shopping», says Mimi Yan. «So designers have to create a lifestyle.»

 

 

Many speakers emphasize that globalization brings a worldwide uniformity. Big companies such as Ikea come to markets like India or Egypt. In South Africa, as Mili Bongela, an art editor from Johannesburg, points out: «Fashion is heritage», she is persuaded. «There are a lot of designers in Johannesburg who are focusing on their identity beyond, before, apart from colonization heritage as a part of their identity.»

 

“#Fashion is #heritage“, says South African art editor Mili Bongela at the closing event focusing on globalisation pic.twitter.com/3uRrb5apFd

— Pro Helvetia (@prohelvetia) 9 septembre 2016

New Delhi based fashion designer David Abraham sees the role of the designer in India as a mediator between the market and the enormous potential of handcraft in his country. Handcraft becomes the new luxury. «The designers together with the crafts men find their markets and shape them», he says.

The symposium COSMOPOLITAN – Switzerland was the closing event of Switzerland at the Milans XXI International Triennale Exhibition.

(Foto: INCHfurniture Basel / Daniel Riera)