The collective exhibition Auto-Exotic presents the works of over 70 international designers in four exhibition venues.

The traditional concept of exoticism, steeped in stereotypes, is rethought through the lens of design. The fascination with a remote elsewhere, dense with wonder, desire for discovery and will of domination, has in recent years turned towards figures, practices and social spaces that inhabit the composite ripples of the culture we belong to. Artisanal knowledge and hackers, drag queens and going back to the land, making bread with grandma’s recipe, ChatGPT, playing cards, laces and halophyte plant biotechnology: we are no longer so much fascinated by distance (in space, in time), as by difference (of proximity). The decline of globalisation indicates that the limit of the expansion process has been reached: if there is no longer an outside world to conquer, the solution is self-colonisation. And never has this fascination influenced the work of designers so much.

Produced by: Venice Design Biennale
Curated by: Luca Berta, Francesca Giubilei
Designers on show: Andrea Grecucci for Vaspaar, Barbara Schweizer, Chen-Yu Wang, Coco Brun, Galapagos, GROOVIDO, Jaykishan Mistry Maria Risueño Dominguez, Matteo Cibic for altreforme, Millim Studio, Nicolette de Waart, Paolo Marasi, RUDA Studio, Satyendra Pakhalé for Tubes, Steven K. Tucker for Abbozzo Gallery, Studio Mau Mau, StudioNotte for Naya, Studio Yongwon, Yung Kim.

Year: 2023
Exhibition location: SPUMA – Space for the Arts
Special thanks to: RODRUZA