Gucci | Bamboo Encounters

L’artiste d’origine suédoise et chilienne Anton Alvarez rend hommage à la forme et à la hauteur du bambou avec sa sculpture « 1802251226 ». Guidée par les formes organiques, la sculpture associe la croissance de la plante avec le mouvement de l’eau, évoquant des éléments naturels qui offrent stabilité et vie, mais qui défient également les limites structurelles, à la fois fiables et sauvages.

Taking inspiration from bamboo’s form, French artist Nathalie Du Pasquier reimagines the material in a folding screen. Entitled ‘PASSAVENTO,’ Du Pasquier designed lightweight panels to frame silk prints. Presenting a natural juxtaposition, the work contrasts the wildness of bamboo with the delicate touch of fabric.

Inspired by bamboo support structures, Austrian designer Laurids Gallée reinterprets the material in ‘Scaffolding.’ Here, the resin mirrors the resilient gracefulness of bamboo, contrasting its self-imposing form with softer, negative space. Rendered in a deep blue, the work evokes a gentle stillness, inviting interpretation.

Product and textile designer Bertjan Pot and still-life photographers Liesbeth Abbenes and Maurice Scheltens of Kite Club present ‘Thank you, Bamboo,’ a series of kites made with ripstop nylon, plastic, and bamboo. Using this combination of materials, the work showcases that anyone can experience the joy of flying kites.

Sisan Lee, a Seoul-based designer and artist, incorporates the classic and contemporary in ‘Engraved.’ Through relief and intaglio techniques, traces of bamboo are etched on aluminum, connecting Lee’s modern artistry with traditional Korean aesthetics of 'subtraction,’ seen in the restrained beauty of Joseon porcelain and paintings.

Palestinian architect, artist, and researcher Dima Srouji intertwines the methodical process of bamboo craftsmanship with lightweight glass in ‘Hybrid Exhalations.’ With foraged bamboo baskets and hand-blown glass additions, Srouji combines the slow-paced with the fast-paced, the intricate with the fragile.

The back studio, featuring duo Eugenio Rossi and Yaazd Contractor, illuminate the material in ‘bamboo assemblage n.1.’ The duo contrasts bamboo’s versatility with the precision of cold cathode glass and high-tech hardware, introducing a dynamic tension between tradition and modernity.