Independent curator & design advisor
Independent curator and design advisor, Federica Sala has made design the gravitational centre of her life.
With an interdisciplinary approach, she is in constant dialogue with art, architecture and publishing in relation to exhibitions, commercial or informative projects.
Highly curious by nature, she firmly believes in the power of transformation, which she has made into a pillar of her profession.
Born in Milan, but with extensive experience gained in France, she worked for five years in the design department of the Centre Pompidou in Paris working with high-calibre designers such as Philippe Starck and Ettore Sottsass Jr, as well as with Fabrica, the research centre of the Benetton group. After this came the Enel Contemporanea years, working on a project for H+ together with Francesco Bonami, which resulted in her working with, among others, Carsten Höller and the Starn brothers.
Between 2010 and 2019 she co-founded and co-directed PS, one of the first agencies created to unite content and communication. PS curated the ‘Object’ section of the Milan International Fair of Modern and Contemporary Art (miart), the exhibitions of the 5VIE Art+ Design district (Max Lamb, Raw-Edges, Sabine Marcelis, Matteo Cibic) and the artists’ residences (Italian villages) project for Airbnb.
In 2018, together with Patricia Urquiola, she curated the monographic exhibition dedicated to the Triennale di Milan, which was followed in 2021 by the exhibition: Giulio Castelli. La cultura imprenditoriale del sistema design, marking the opening of the ADI Design Museum.
She currently continues to work as an independent curator collaborating in Italy and abroad with Italian and international institutions and agencies such as Buccellati, Dolce&Gabbana, Cassina, Rizzoli International, Six Senses, Venini and Assab One, focusing on the transversality of the various disciplines related to the world of design. Last but not least, in July 2022 she became the Editorial Director of the quintessentially eclectic magazine ‘The Good Life Italia’.
Latest news
Gen D | Dolce & Gabbana
Generation Designers stems from Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s desire to extend into the realm of furniture the same forward-looking attitude that the company has demonstrated over the years, actively supporting the talent of the young and establishing cultural bridges between the company’s creativity and the rest of the world. The adaptability of designers such as Ahryun Lee, Chris Wolston, Sayar&Garibeh, Lucia Massari, Malacou Lefebvre/Atelier Malak, Bradley Bowers, Sara Ricciardi, and Antonio Aricò—virtually all straddling two worlds—has been the linchpin in the selection process.
In conjunction with the Cuisine, Cinéma et Confidences Festival organized by the Italian Cultural Institute of Montreal, Federica Sala’s exhibition celebrates Italy’s passion for the table. The showcase at the Centre de Design de l’UQAM is open to the public from November 9, 2022, to January 20, 2023.
Six Senses’ first urban hotel translates the contemporary vision of Roman classicism from the architectural project by Studio Patricia Urquiola into the selection of artworks. Site-specific works by Alberto Selvestrel, Analogia Project, Andrea Mauti, Caterina Licitra Ponti, Beatrice Bonafini, Paolo Giordano, Sara Salvemini, Tarek Abbar, T-Yong Chung, Eliška Konečná, Marco Emmanuele, and POL Polloniato are featured.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Cassina iMaestri Collection, the company presents ‘Echoes, Cassina: 50 Years of iMaestri,’ edited by Ivan Mietton with the artistic direction of Nicola Aguzzi from Undo-Redo. Published by Rizzoli, it is available in Italian bookstores from October and worldwide from 2024. The book not only celebrates a collection that has contributed to writing the history of design but, above all, a unique method of conducting research and development in the pursuit of authenticity and culture.
The intervention by AMDL CIRCLE and Michele De Lucchi transforms the terrace into a modern Pantheon with a magical red garden to celebrate the art of Italian silver and glass. Inside the structure, Lily Scout Kwong’s botanical installation, featuring carnivorous plants, engages in a dialogue between the floral collections of the Milanese maison and pieces from the recent collaboration with Venini.
In celebration of the Italian Capital of Culture 2023 program, Federica Sala, as Art Advisor, invites architects Eleni Petaloti and Leonidas Trampoukis of Objects of Common Interest to create a large-scale site-specific installation for Piazza della Libertà in Bergamo. The project has been supported by Confindustria Bergamo and promoted by the Municipality of Bergamo and GAMeC, the city’s Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art.