**Apologies for cross-posting**

Exploring National Identity: Italian Design in the Twentieth Century Symposium
Saturday 5th February 2005, 10.30am - 4pm
Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture
Middlesex University, Cat Hill, Barnet, EN4 8HT

How do designed objects help to define national identity?  
Is nationality a useful framework for the discussion of design?  
Are there ever tensions between the aims of the designer and the meanings ascribed to objects by wider society?  

The aim of this symposium is to explore the concept of 'national identity' through different aspects of Italian design. 

The speakers include:
~ Grace Lees-Maffei, University of Hertfordshire on the Italian household product design company Alessi
~ Elyssa Schram da Cruz, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York on Italian Style   
~ Michael Bzdak, Rutgers University on Milan as Enduring Capital of Design
~ Lisa Hockemeyer, Kingston University on Italian post-war ceramics

This event accompanies MoDA's current temporary exhibition, Woven Splendour: Italian Textiles from the Medici to the Modern Age, which features a selection of fabrics from the collections of the Museo del Tessuto, Prato.  Woven Splendour includes textiles by Gio Ponti and Mariano Fortuny, both of whom can be seen as expressing aspects of Italian identity through their work.

Price: £20.00 or £12.00 concessions.  10 places are available free to students.  Please book in advance.  An optional buffet lunch is available at £6.50 per person.
Please note: The concessionary ticket rate applies to students, Middlesex University staff, Friends of MoDA, senior citizens, registered disabled people and ES40 holders.
Booking enquiries: Please call Abigail on 020 8411 4394 or email [log in to unmask]

MoDA - Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture.  Based on the Cat Hill campus of Middlesex University, MoDA's varied exhibitions give a vivid picture of domestic life in the first half of the twentieth century whilst also looking at contemporary design, art and issues related to the domestic environment. 

Enquiries: 020 8411 5244
www.moda.mdx.ac.uk