Blog

The DONNE AL BAUHAUS / LEONARDO DESIGNER exhibition is one of the most valuable initiatives featured in the Udine Design Week programme.

Produced by the Design Museum of Friuli Venezia Giulia with the support of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region

Curator: Anna A. Lombardi

Archival research: Gloria Garbino

Video mapping: Federico Petrei

Graphics: Andrea Saccavini and Barbara Ermeti

Music: Antonio Della Marina

The DONNE AL BAUHAUS / LEONARDO DESIGNER project was developed over several months. It began with a search for information concerning the women who attended the Bauhaus in the 1920s, then the graphics and video mapping technology were created for this unprecedented, highly original exhibition. It will not be possible to repeat the immersive experience but the project is continuing in the form of a book, presentations, also on request, and coming soon, an online exhibition. We intend to use these to help disseminate information supporting the emancipation of women but also the history of Bauhaus, the school that still today represents a milestone in design history and whose teaching has profoundly influenced artistic and technical education. Did you know that over fourteen years the three Bauhaus sites took in over a thousand students and that as many as a third of them were women? Some were already working professionally when they enrolled, almost all of them completed their studies and established themselves in the world of work, others disappeared from artistic circles and returned to private life, others again were one-hit wonders that attended the school briefly and for whom it is practically impossible to find information. Many had to flee when the Nazis came to power. This exhibition offers the story of the lives and work of many of them, many more than we are generally aware of.

The research is not exhaustive yet it provides a starting point to disprove the cliché that usually limits the Bauhaus women who changed history to three, seven or ten. In reality, there were many more, women committed to emancipating themselves by pursuing a dream of being creative, women who have left their mark on our lives and on design. Whilst not claiming to be experts, we wanted to give a broad, informative account of them, leaving those who wish free to explore further even if only by following the path of their names.

‹ Blog