Diletante42 (São Paulo) is defined by its Brazilian modern design collection, carefully assembled with authentic pieces often bought straight from the owners of the original works. The expertise of 18 years in the selection of pieces guarantees the quality of the collection: the result of a joint venture between Flavio Santoro and Luciano Diniz. The partners' passion for Brazilian furniture from the modernist period, from the 1940s - 1980s, is the definitive trait of the gallery's personality. For its first presentation at Design Miami/, the gallery presents a selection of Brazilian modern design pieces with creations by Lina Bo Bardi, José Zanine Caldas, Joaquim Tenreiro, Sergio Rodrigues and others. One particularly rare piece set to go on show is a Lina Bo Bardi’s Bowl Chair #41, crafted from natural fiber and all original parts.

Galerie BSL (Paris) produces and exhibits works that challenge the established boundaries of art and design. It will debut at the fair with The Power of Biomorphism, an exhibition concept that proposes to explore new frontiers in the ability of objects to express life forms. This presentation is an invitation to embrace both design and nature differently, offering new perspectives on how nature can be interpreted and reasserted in objects whose presence is as surprising as it is communicative. The Golden Age curatorial theme is therefore interpreted both as the present moment when aesthetic experience allows us to escape from everyday life, and also as a possible future, perhaps even utopian, that is shaped by awareness. A number of rare and exceptional pieces will be presented by the gallery, including the gallery’s first showcase of bronze works by Pia Maria Raeder, with a beaded texture inspired by the cosmos and the starry sky, as well as a set of works from Ayala Serfaty’s Soma series - wall and table pieces that compose a landscape of luminous sculptures evoking biomorphic forms.

Historic Gallery Highlights/
The gallery program also includes a number of significant historic highlights. Looking to the recent past, Galerie Patrick Seguin (Paris) will present a thoughtful selection of 20th century furniture from a number of its celebrated designers. Moderne Gallery (Philadelphia) will return to the fair with a booth devoted to both vintage and contemporary American Studio furniture, ceramics, turned wood, enamels and fiber, including highlight works by George Nakashima and Tanaka Tomomi. John Keith Russel (South Salem) specializes in the material culture of the Shakers, objects synonymous with beautiful and utilitarian American craft and design. For Design Miami/ 2022, the gallery will present a set of four Shaker dining chairs created in 1834 by Brother Micajah Tucker of the Canterbury, New Hampshire, Shaker community. The spindle-back Dining Chair is emblematic of Shaker ingenuity. A rare and sought-after Shaker design, it is presumed that only 80 - 90 of these dining chairs were ever made.

Contemporary Gallery Highlights/
This year’s fair also presents a diverse selection of contemporary works. Among the many highlights is the return of Southern Guild (Cape Town), who will present Inkundla, an exhibition of handcrafted furniture and objects presented in an imagined domestic environment. Rich in their physicality and form, the works are bound together by a strong sense of materiality and exploration of spiritual themes. The booth will feature specially commissioned pieces by 16 of the continent’s most celebrated artists and designers, including ceramicists Zizipho Poswa, Andile Dyalvane and Madoda Fani; internationally renowned artists Nandipha Mnthambo, Porky Hefer and Rich Mnisi; design duo Dokter and Misses, and sculptor Stanislaw Trzebinski.

Another spotlight preview comes from Sarah Myerscough Gallery (London). The gallery will present Material Shores, an immersive curated collection of museum-quality functional design and art objects that champion innovative, sustainable and restorative design practices. The centerpiece of this presentation will be a commanding new work from Angela Damman: an eco-contemporary reimagining of the chandelier, hand-crafted from raw henequén fibre, which combines opulence and luscious materiality with a touch of the absurd. Another interesting highlight comes from Ateliers Courbet (New York). For Design Miami/ 2022, the gallery will focus on one material—bronze—and its manifold craftsmanship techniques. Exceptionally rare work set to go on show includes EROS BRUT, a unique sculptural dining table by Hamza Kadiri carved from a single solid block of ash wood, as well as the Bonsai series of sculptural bronze tables and lights by Donnersberg and Cárcamo, and produced by Fonderie Fusions’ revered founders in the South of France. The limited edition series consists of tables and lights evoking the abstracted forms or outlines of Bonsai trees.

Curio Highlights/
The Curio program offers ‘cabinets of curiosity’ interspersed among the gallery booths, each curated around a variety of creative concepts designed to provoke thought and inspiration. ​

​Among the highlights of this year’s Curio program, Gufram (Barolo) makes its Miami debut with a Curio that has been realized in collaboration with a well-known American music artist. For Design Miami/, the Italian radical design brand will unveil a new Cactus edition alongside a selection of collectible items inspired by the iconic piece celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. ​