BATHING IN LIGHT
THE STORY OF TURKISH NATURAL
STONE WILL BE EXHIBITED DURING
SALONE DI MOBILE IN MILAN.
T
Become Marble
“Reading the project’s brief, the first thought that jumped into my
mind was the power of the stone. I just wanted to hug one and
become marble. This installation invites people to walk through
it and feel as if they are in a canyon of transformation, a journey
of transition from one state of mind to another, from one feeling
to a new one, from liquid to solid and back again. It is a gateway,
physically, mentally, emotionally - an experience. The horizontal
levels describe the time the stones take to be created or to form,
their history, but also our own growth, the progress of technology
going side by side with the human and spiritual.”
he unique story of Turkish natural stone will
come to light at the ‘Bathing in Light’ exhibition
during the week of Salone di Mobile, between
April 9 - 14 2013. Organized by the Istanbul Mineral
Exporters’ Association (IMIB), and curated by the
Turkish design firm Demirden Design, it will be the second
edition of the exhibition held last year, ‘Thus Spoke the
Marble: The Journey Alters You’. The exhibition featuring
the designs of six internationally acknowledged designers,
will be spread over the 900 m2 Art Garden of Superstudio
Piu in Zona Tortona. These designers and architects from
different disciplines are bringing Turkish culture, history
and mythology together with contemporary designs in
marble. The architectural aspects of marble are developed
by architects Massimiliano-Doriana Fuksas (Italy), Melkan
Gursel-Murat Tabanlioglu (Turkey), and Alisan Cirakoglu
(Turkey), while designer Mathieu Lehanneur (France) looks
at it from an industrial designer’s point of view. There is
also the works of the fashion duo Dice Kayek (Turkey) and
Arik Levy (France), a designer whose work has evolved more
and more in an artistic direction.
‘Bathing in Light’ focuses on the way in which marble,
water and light have always come together as the perfect
combination to express notions like cleanliness and purity.
Marble positions itself in this interplay as the ideal surface,
smooth and reflective, while in turn it only attains its full
splendor when touched upon by these elements.
The installations, in which marble, with its unlimited
potential is the main material, represent the inexhaustible
source of memories, dreams, myths and legends from the
past to the present. The installations produced by Turkish
manufacturers and workshops expose the tactile and visual
characteristics of marble and natural stone and invite
visitors on a mental journey while introducing them to
their spiritual aspects.
As one of the world’s oldest producers of marble, with a
tradition going back four thousand years, Turkey has been
fascinating the world with its natural stones that have
become well-known brands. Turkey is the number one
marble exporting country in the world with its unique
treasure of marble of consisting of 120 colors and designs.
Istanbul Mineral Exporters’ Association, the organizer of the
exhibition, aims to communicate the importance given to
design and innovation by the Turkish natural stone industry,
while strengthening the notion of the country as a powerful
manufacturing center for these precious materials.
MART - NİSAN 2013 / MARCH - APRIL 2013 • NATURA 13