At the Chiesa di Santa Maria Incoronata, two projects presented during the Salone del Mobile 2012 seek to encourage people living in disadvantaged contexts — especially women — to know more about design. Respecting the specific cultures of each place, communities were provided with tools for design and production using local materials in order to increase local autonomy and improve dramatic living conditions.

DcomeDesign is a young initiative promoted by Anty Pansera, Luisa Bocchietto, Loredana Sarti and Patrizia Scarzella, with the goal to promote women's creativity throughout the world. During the Salone, they presented Dignity Design , a collection of fabric, paper and clay accessories produced in three centers (Bangkok, Chiang Rai and Nong Khai) managed by the Good Shepherd International Foundation Onlus. Drawing on their crafts production capacities, Hakka and Hmong women artisans were encouraged by Italian designers to create objects that might compete on the global market.

Il Nodo Onlus is a small-scale, "family-run " association active in Cambodia with several humanitarian projects including The Art Workshop, a school that uses design to improve the production of young Khmer jewelry makers. At the Salone, the exhibition presented jewelry produced in workshops held by internationally renowned silver workers — an activity present on the local economy. Curated by Rossella Tornquist, twenty-five students learned how to make a piece of jewelry using the simple design of a basic module and an artistic language that had never been developed before.

The objects in the exhibit illustrate the value of a kind of design that seeks to participate in the change and development of non-Western contexts. Such values should give us pause for reflection after a week at the Salone del Mobile.

17-22 April 2012
Biblioteca di Santa Maria Incoronata
corso Garibaldi 126, Milan