ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Milano Design Week 2019: Empathy as a guiding thread

festival-fair · 2026-05-04

The 2019 Milano Design Week, held across various districts in Milan, Italy, centered on empathy as a key theme. Numerous projects explored emotional connections, technology as a means for social reflection, and design's role in fostering relationships. Highlights include Yuka Oyama's 'A home is a home…' at Ventura Future, where students created wearable sculptures from personal stories; Isabella Sanchez-Jacques' sound installation 'Cocina de la Tierra' featuring Mexican migrant farmers; Kiki Van Eijk & Joost Van Bleiswijk's 'Connect' at 5VIE; the 'We are Open' exhibition at MAO Ljubljana blending folklore with industrial production; Sparx Living's triangular table promoting conversation; RAPT Studio's 'Tell me more' interactive installation at Ventura Centrale; Emma Ribbens' 'Modular Play Cart' for refugee children as part of 'Generous Nature' by Belgium is Design; Finland's 'Everyday Experiments' at the XXII Triennale; and Park Associati's 'Insecure: Public Space in the Age of Big Data' by Žan Kobal and Weixiao Shen, critiquing surveillance. The event ran from April 8 to 14, 2019.

Key facts

  • Milano Design Week 2019 focused on empathy as a guiding theme.
  • Yuka Oyama presented 'A home is a home…' at Ventura Future.
  • Isabella Sanchez-Jacques created 'Cocina de la Tierra' sound installation.
  • Kiki Van Eijk & Joost Van Bleiswijk exhibited 'Connect' at 5VIE.
  • MAO Ljubljana presented 'We are Open' blending folklore and industry.
  • Sparx Living introduced a triangular table for conversation.
  • RAPT Studio's 'Tell me more' encouraged dialogue at Ventura Centrale.
  • Emma Ribbens showed 'Modular Play Cart' for refugee children.
  • Finland's 'Everyday Experiments' at XXII Triennale involved citizens.
  • Žan Kobal and Weixiao Shen's 'Insecure' critiqued surveillance at Park Hub.

Entities

Artists

  • Yuka Oyama
  • Isabella Sanchez-Jacques
  • Kiki Van Eijk
  • Joost Van Bleiswijk
  • Žan Kobal
  • Weixiao Shen
  • Emma Ribbens
  • Ugo La Pietra
  • Virginio Briatore
  • Flavia Chiavaroli

Institutions

  • Design School Kolding
  • Ventura Future
  • 5VIE
  • MAO Ljubljana
  • Centro di Creatività del MAO di Lubiana
  • Sparx Living
  • RAPT Studio
  • Ventura Centrale
  • Belgium is Design
  • XXII Triennale
  • Park Associati
  • Porta Venezia in Design
  • Park Hub
  • Design Academy Eindhoven
  • Artribune

Locations

  • Milan
  • Italy
  • Ljubljana
  • Slovenia
  • Finland
  • Eindhoven
  • Netherlands
  • via Cesare Correnti 14
  • Porta Venezia

Sources