DESIGN DISPATCH

Amanda Gorman May Host the Met Gala, and Other News

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Amanda Gorman speaking at President Joe Biden’s inauguration

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The Met Gala plans to return in September with an event hosted by Amanda Gorman.

Shortly after Amanda Gorman was revealed to be the cover star of Vogue’s May issue, the superstar poet is rumored to have been invited to speak at the Met Gala. The annual “Oscars of Fashion” was canceled this past year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but will return in September with a theme focused on America and American designers. It’s an event highly suited for Gorman, who became a household name after delivering a show-stopping performance of her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration. CFDA president Tom Ford has also been approached to co-host alongside Gorman. 

Fuorisalone organizers vow to hold events even if Salone del Mobile is nixed in September. 

Collectively known as Fuorisalone, the citywide event held during Salone del Mobile has confirmed that they will hold design shows September 5–10. According to organizers, Fuorisalone will happen on those dates, no matter what—albeit in full compliance with precaution measures to safeguard the health of participants and the public. Participants include Alcova, Tortona Design Week, Isola Design District, and Brera Design District. 

The Church in Sag Harbor, New York. Photography by Michael Heller

The Church, a nonprofits art center in Sag Harbor, New York, will soon welcome visitors.

Sag Harbor is about to receive a prestigious new art and culture center. Starting on April 15, The Church will be welcoming visitors for twice-daily tours of its building, a former Methodist church that dates back to 1832. “This opening is the culmination of the vision of a lifetime,” Eric Fischl, who co-founded the venture with April Gornik, said in a statement. “We want the Church to stand as a beacon of hope and renewal through continual exploration and reinterpretation, which is the domain of the arts.” The first two artists who will showcase work in the 10,000-square-foot space will be Kerry James Marshall and Awol Erizku

15 Percent Pledge founder Aurora James accuses Target of stealing her organization’s branding. 

Though Target recently announced that it would invest $2 billion in Black-owned businesses by 2025, it’s not getting off to a great start. The announcement used branding that looks awfully similar to that used by the 15 Percent Pledge, a Black-run organization founded by Aurora James that asks brands to commit 15 percent of their total spending power to Black-owned businesses. Target doesn’t actually support the 15 Percent Pledge despite multiple calls for the company to do so, and has denied allegations that it copied any branding for the announcement. James isn’t buying that: “We’re trying to shift the American economy and you cannot do that with table scraps, especially when it’s tumbling off one of the biggest tables in the country,” she wrote on Instagram.

Frieze Los Angeles at Paramount Studios

After canceling Frieze Los Angeles this year, organizers scouted a new venue for 2022. 

Frieze Los Angeles has canceled its 2021 edition after pushing the event from February to July due to pandemic-related concerns. Instead, the highly anticipated fair will return February 17–20, 2022, in a large tent next to the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard. “With only ten months until the 2022 dates, we’ve made the decision to focus on planning for next year’s fair rather than holding a July event in Los Angeles,” a Frieze spokesperson said. “Although the situation in California has started to improve, the timeline constraints and ongoing uncertainty have made it clear that focusing our collective efforts on 2022 will make the best possible experience for all involved.” 

Delhi plans to open the country’s first museum dedicated to the partition of British India.

The first museum in Delhi dedicated to the 1947 partition of India, which divided British India into Pakistan and India, will open on August 15—the country’s 75th anniversary of independence. The institution will focus on the major impact made by the partition, which is estimated to have taken in nearly half a million refugees from Pakistan in the months before and after partition. The collection will display everyday objects, such as clothing and photos, that refugees carried while crossing new borders during the sectarian conflict, which resulted in upwards of an estimated 2 million deaths. 

Today’s attractive distractions:

Takashi Murakami is withdrawing his NFTs to learn more about how they work.

Brazil is building a new Jesus statue taller than the famed Christ the Redeemer.

This Las Vegas company debuts a new pop-up camper for the Tesla Cybertruck.

Fly through the novel Martian city of Nüwa designed by architecture firm ABIBOO.

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