Consul General of Italy in Karachi, Danilo Giurdanella inaugurates 7th edition of the Italian Design Week at Habitt City.

The Consul General of Italy Danilo Giurdanella welcomed the guests at the 7^th edition of the Italian Design Week in Karachi on Thursday, 16 March, 2023 jointly organized by the Consulate of Italy with Habitt City – a community safe space for cultural initiatives and activities for Karachiites.

The event was organized to launch Don Corleone Objects in Pakistan by the renowned Sicilian ceramic artist, Antonino Forlin. Antonino Forlin and IBL/Habitt CEO, Munis Abdullah ventured together for a retail launch of the signature home textile and ceramic collections namely ‘Taormina’ and “Munis × Don Corleone” in Pakistan.

The event was attended by diplomats, foreigners, government-officials, prominent-architects, artists, selected members of press and notable members of business community. Some of attendees were Commissioner Karachi Mr. Iqbal Memon, Consul General of United States of America Ms. Nicole Theriot, Consul General of France Mr. Alexis Chahtahtinsky, Consul General of Japan Mr. Odagiri Toshio, Chairman Gul Ahmed Textile Mills, Mr. Bashir Ali Mohammad and many more.

During his welcome speech, The Consul General of Italy Danilo Giurdanella welcomed the guests at the 7^th edition of the Italian. He termed this event as an important event. He added; “such is the importance of Designing in Italy that more than 64,000 Experts work in Design sector in Italy”. Italian consul further added that; “Italian consul in Karachi is collaborating with Pakistan in Textile and in Ceramic sector”.  

Munis Abdullah CEO Habitt City thanked Italian CG, staff at Italian Consul, IDC and his staff at Habitt City for bring Italian Design Day/Week which also includes Italian Markitt to life. He praised Italy for its exclusive and exquisite designs. Mr. Munis Abdullah also reminded that the concept of super-star (super-stardom) was first coined by Italians. Mr. Munis also shared that Habitt often referred as IKEA of Pakistan.

Commissioner Karachi Mr. Iqbal Memon said; “we have been seeing heavy rains for last couple of years, and this trend is expected to stay or maybe increase. To counter this, architects should design infrastructure like building, road, bridges etc in such a way that they can withstand heavy rains”

The Italian Design Day is an event conceived to promote Italian design abroad, to support exports and the internationalization of companies in this sector, to foster international know-how and exchange of technical and creative skills. This 7th edition focuses on quality, the ability to conceive and create products that combine aesthetic and functional needs using production processes that respect the environment and people’s health.

Besides the product launches of Taormina and Munis × Don Corleone collections in Karachi, the Consulate also organized the book launch and panel discussion of The FOLD – a book by Salman Jawaid, the first Pakistani architect invited in 2018 by the European Culture Centre to organize the Pakistan Pavilion at the International Venice Architecture Biennale, which created history for the people of Pakistan and opened the doors for others to follow. The book looks into the journey of a team of young passionate architects from Pakistan, who make a mark at one of the most prestigious international design event with their sheer determination and hard-work.

The Consulate together with Habitt City have lined up cultural events such as an Italian Markitt – a three day street food festival from 17-19 March, 2023 for people of Karachi to enjoy the Italian delicacies in their city. Furthermore, a ceramic workshop by Antonino Forlin has been organized for arts enthusiasts and students to get a chance to learn specialized technique and methods used in pottery and ceramics. An Italian Culinary Class has also been organized for ardent lovers of Italian cuisine to learn authentic Italian recipes, which will be demonstrated by Chef Gennaro Carrozza during the Italian Design Week.

The Italian Friends of the Citizen Foundation, a non-profit organization advocating the cause of TCF Pakistan in Italy has partnered with Indus Valley School for Art and Architecture and Salone del Mobile, the largest Annual Furniture and Design Exhibition in the world hosted in Milan. Dr. Faiza Mushtaq, Executive Director & Dean of Academics at IVS School of Art and Architecture took the opportunity to announce on the occasion of Italian Design Day, the ART4EDUCATION project, that aims to showcase award winning design pieces by Pakistani artists, architects and designers to be auctioned at Salone del Mobile in 2024 to support the TCF network in Pakistan.

Textile is a key sector between Italy and Pakistan – Danilo Giurdanella, Italian Consul General in Karachi

Under the patronage of the Consulate of Italy in Karachi, a presentation was organized for the textile industry to brief them on the forthcoming event ‘International Textile Machinery Association’ (ITMA 2023), which will be held in Milan from 08^th June ~ 14^th June 2023.  International Textile Machinery Association (ITMA) is the world’s largest international textile and garment technology exhibition, and the ITMA brand is owned by CEMATEX.

ITMA is recognized as the ‘Olympics’ of the textile and garment technology industry – a showcase of the latest technology and a vital meeting place for buyers and sellers from all over the world. ITMA 2023 is all set to be held at the Fiera Milano Rho Exhibition Centre, Milan, Italy from 08^th June ~ 14^th June 2023.

Mr. Alex Zucchi, President Association of Italian Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT) welcomed the audience on behalf of the (ACIMIT) and invited Ms. Eileen Ng, Deputy project Director, ITMA Services to talk about the upcoming exhibition and the impact of digitalisation and sustainability for the Pakistan Textile Manufacturing Industry.

The exhibition will feature over 1,600 exhibitors from 44 countries and a list of 100 companies are still waiting to be allocated space in their preferred sectors. There are around 20 product sectors covering the entire textile and garment manufacturing value chain, including textile composites. ITMA 2023 will be accompanied by several activities spotlighting industry innovation. The event aims to highlight automation and digital future, advanced materials, sustainability and circularity, and innovative technologies.

Mr. Aarij Iqbal, President of Italian Development Committee (IDC), Italian Chamber in Pakistan apprised the audience on the role of IDC, together with the support of the Consulate of Italy in Karachi have dedicated channel for facilitating ITMA 2023 visitors.

The Consulate has been supportive in recognizing that the textile sector is the largest exporting sector of Pakistan and works very closely with Italy. Both countries complement each other to grow and expand their businesses. Hence, it is important to facilitate Pakistani Business Houses to participate in ITMA 2023 being held in Milan.

Mr. Sohail Tabba, Founding member of IDC and Chairman Lucky Core Industries was invited on stage to talk about the Pakistan textile Industry and the way forward.

The Chief guest for the event was Consul General of Italy, His Excellency Danilo Giurdanella, spoke on Italy’s excellence in innovation and constant R&D in the sector makes Italy a market leader. The exports of Italian textile machines accounts for Asia (42%), followed by Extra EU (20%) and European Union (19%). The value of Italian production in 2021 was Euro 2.4 billion, with exports worth Euro 2 billion. The process of internationalization and the vocation for innovation allows Italian companies to consolidate and further improve the leading position of Italy in the world textile machinery industry.

Textile is a key sector between Italy and Pakistan. In order to support the textile businesses in Pakistan, the Consulate has worked out a special arrangement together with Italian Development Committee to facilitate ITMA visitors to participate in the exhibition.