Present day
19-05-11

The exhibition Balenciaga: Designing The Limits, finalist of the prestigious FAD awards
A few days ago, the finalists of the 53rd edition of the FAD awards were announced. The awards are organized by Arquin-FAD (Associació interdisciplinària del Disseny de l’Espai del Foment de les Arts i del Disseny), with Spanish and Portuguese projects participating. Commissioned by the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum and designed by architectural studio AV62 Arquitectos, the Balenciaga exhibition setting has been chosen as a finalist in the Ephemeral Initiatives category. Final decisions on the awards will be taken this coming July.
Chaired by architect Benedetta Tagliabue, the jury had this to say about the exhibition setting: “Several strategies of limits protect the works on display while also actually bringing them closer to visitors. The lighting also manages to bring the dresses closer to the present, underscoring what is timeless about them: their colours, tactile qualities, weight and sheen.”
Balenciaga: Designing The Limits has also won the Estrategías (Strategies) journal design award (Estrategías is the industry’s leading magazine) in its Direct Marketing & Promotion Category for the advertising campaign the Bilbao Museum commissioned from the Herederos de Rowan agency.
Besides focusing on the traditional media, the campaign also targeted a specific public in an unusually imaginative way, inviting visitors to the city to see the exhibition and then go on to visit the Museum and its excellent permanent collection. The original impact was crucial: when visitors arrived in their hotel rooms in Bilbao, the first thing they found in the wardrobe was a die-cut dress (Balenciaga, of course) complete with hanger and, instead of the designer’s label, an invitation (in English and Spanish) for two people to the exhibition, together with all the information they needed (Museum opening hours, how to get there and so on) to find the place and enjoy their visit.