Italy creates design bridge with Ahmedabad

In an attempt to share an understanding of design skills and issues, a seminar on ‘India and Italy design: A bridge between two countries’ was held at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The seminar was jointly organised by the premier design institute and the Italian trade commission.

Augusto Di Giacinto, Italian trade commissioner in Mumbai; Arturo Dell’Acqua Bellavitis, faculty member of design at the Politecnico di Milano; and Valentina Auricchio, director of the design research centre at the Istituto Europeo di Design; among other delegates. Also present were Pradyumna Vyas, director of NID, and faculty members and officials of the institute.

“In 2010, we will have a team of Italian delegates visiting India to explore and find ways to collaborate with companies in the textile sectors of the two countries,” Di Giacinto said.

Elaborating on the objectives of the seminar, he said, “We are looking forward to promote to design a bridge between Italian and Indian culture, to promote design innovation to strengthen collaboration between Italian and Indian designers and enterprises, to identify new opportunities for global enterprises.”

Talking about the demand for Indian products in the Italian market, he said, “The demand for Indian products in Italy has been rising. With the rise in the gross domestic product of the country, companies in Italy are developing an interest in India.”

“NID has signed memoranda of understanding with 38 design institutes from around the world, 10 of which are from Italy. These associations have enabled tremendous learning,” NID director Pradyumna Vyas said.

“While many of our students have been travelling to various countries, including Italy, as part of student exchange programmes, we are now considering that we should also conduct joint research projects, which will look into global contexts in search of new directions,” he said.