In a State of Repair

La Rinascente · Piazza del Duomo · Milano · April 2014

Fuorisalone · Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2014

During the 2014 Salone Internazionale del Mobile — the world's largest

home design fair — designer Martino Gamper conceived a live installation

for the arcades and eight storefront windows of La Rinascente on

Piazza del Duomo, Milan.

Commissioned by La Rinascente in collaboration with the Serpentine

Galleries, London, In a State of Repair brought master artisans into

the open: shoemakers, bookbinders, tailors, bicycle mechanics, and

chair weavers — each working live before the public from 8 to 13 April.

Every repaired object became a one-off piece, transformed according to

Gamper's material constraints. For the chairs, the signature intervention

was colour — cane woven with vivid coloured accents, a living demonstration

of craft as both function and art.

The Benvegnù family occupied the chair weaving station.

Bruno Pallone worked alongside his father Benny and his brother

Dario — three members of the same family, three custodians of the

same tradition, representing Benvegnù Sedie e Tavoli at the most

visible stage Italian design has to offer.

Martino Gamper — whose work spans the Serpentine Galleries, the

V&A, and the world's leading design institutions — chose the Benvegnù

family as the artisans for the chair weaving station. Not by accident.

The tradition they carry is one of the oldest in Italy.

Dario Pallone at work · La Rinascente · Milan · April 2014

This photograph was recognised for its documentary power —

a master craftsman at the intersection of tradition and the contemporary world.

Tra el dièr e l far, l'é de mèth el mar.

Between saying and doing there is an ocean.

· Scopelament del Conza · Gosaldo, Belluno

The tradition documented at La Rinascente in 2014 continues today

in Hamilton, Ontario, under the name Benvegnù Heritage.

The same hands. The same tools. The same language.

IN A STATE OF REPAIR