Created in 1998, PAD was the 1st created Design fair in the world, after 24 editions, remains the leading event for international Design collectors. The Paris edition, which held between April 3-7, 2024 was no exception, bringing together the best International and French galleries of Historical and Contemporary Design.
Art Pioneer, Adviser, Curator, and Collector Ifeoma DIke (Founder, Idioblast Dynamic Development UK – IDDUK), was present at PAD Paris 2024, and had these detailed insights, with spots of realist humour) to share:
“PAD Paris got design enthusiasts like me into Paris last week. Fortunately, it was happening during Art Paris, and thanks to the director, Guillaume Piens and his team BĂ©atrice Guesnet Micheli, I got an invitation to the fair as well.
“There were several great moments and mega-impressive designs at PAD, but the focus here will be on Art Paris.
“The 26th edition centred on 2 themes addressing a sustainable & local approach to utopian imaginations and crafts. With 136 participating galleries from 25 countries, the tenet is to foster diversity whilst simultaneously supporting the local art scene. The lead curator, Eric de Chassey, explored “fragile Utopia”, selecting 21 artists from the exhibiting galleries who all represent the French art scene. To his mind, visual arts are not only a medium of representation but also a way of shaping thinking, therefore “contributing to constructing possible utopias”.
“My focus was on the 2nd theme by guest curator, Nicolas Trembley. Having always been fascinated by the importance of, though overlooked, textiles, glass, ceramics, tapestry and non-traditional materials in the formation of (fine) art. 10 years ago, I recall being shutdown by a curator from a powerful art institution who simply relegated works created from such materials to crafts. “You must LEARN the difference between fine art and crafts”! Today she’s had to eat her words, having curated several exhibitions focusing on textiles & ceramics… Sharp instincts, rather than the evolving nature of formal learning, always win the day. I digress.
“Trembley spotlighted the contribution of crafts to the modern and contemporary art scene. The focus on applied arts “put an end to this historical way of doing things”. Inspired by the 19th-century British Arts & Crafts movement & aims to rediscover artists whose approach borrows from the world of craft – re-emphasised importance of crafts related to locality & traditions.
“20 international artists were presented. Ge Ba, represented by my friend & gallery partner, Françoise Livinec. She showed the fabric patchworks created after the Second World War by Chinese textile workers. She was deterred from buying the works as it was not worth “a penny”, they said. But her instincts won the day. JoĂ«l Andrianomearisoa, was also in the spotlight. Another artist in the collections I have built for collectors,for over a decade.
“Champions like Sheila Hicks, a pioneer of this medium, was also in the spotlight. Fortunate to have found her work at a gallery in Nice, 2020.
“Homage to Louise Bourgeois, Madame Zo, Chiharu Shiota, Billie Zangewa, Vanessa BarragĂŁo, Teresa Lanceta et al., artists who were/are committed to this medium and have been ignored for decades.
“What I have learned thus far from all my art travels, is to believe in your ideas and instincts. “Vision is a gift, which comes to others after the fact” – ID