Enzo Mari curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Francesca Giacomelli

From 11 February 2023, C-mine (Genk, Belgium) will be presenting the exhibition Enzo Mari curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Francesca Giacomelli. Dedicated to the work and ideas of the famous Italian designer, artist and theoretician Enzo Mari (1932–2020), the expo brings never-before-seen projects, models, drawings, films and posters from the Enzo Mari Archive. Enzo Mari was known for durable and affordable designs for ordinary people. In 1974, for instance, with Proposta per un'Autoprogettazione (Proposal for a Self-Design), he brought a free user's manual for hammering together your own furniture. Equally iconic are Mari's 16 Animali – 16 animals carved from a single piece of wood that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Previously shown in Milan during the Triennale Milano 2020, the exhibition includes both a chronological overview of his entire oeuvre as a designer, artist, intellectual and utopian theorist and critic, and a series of contributions from contemporary, international artists and designers invited to honor Mari with new installations. These will include work by the Belgian design studio OpenStructures, Tacita Dean, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Danh Vo, and Virgil Abloh, among others. On top of that, the expo includes a series of documents and video interviews from curator Hans Ulrich Obrist's archive, aimed at highlighting Mari's critical and radical take on design.