Designers Barnaba Fornasetti

Fornasetti's Artistic Director since the late 1980s. Under his direction, the Milanese atelier is now considered one of the principal Italian companies in the sphere of high craftsmanship.

Thanks to Barnaba’s always unconventional approach and methodological rigour, the art and history of Fornasetti can be seen in the most important museums and theatres. In 2017 the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York presents Barnaba Fornasetti with the Visionaries! Award, an accolade that celebrates innovation, excellence and creativity in the field of art and design.

The Artipelag museum dedicated its main summer 2019 exhibition to Fornasetti. Inside Out Outside In is the first exhibit in Sweden to encompass Piero Fornasetti’s entire production, culminating in contemporary work by Barnaba.

In 2020 Barnaba curates the Fornasetti Theatrum Mundi exhibition, housed in the Complesso Monumentale della Pilotta in Parma, together with Valeria Manzi, President of the Fornasetti Cult association, and the director of the Museum Simone Verde.

2021 sees Barnaba involved in
a collaboration with Louis Vuitton, one of the most prestigious brands in international fashion. For the Fall-Winter 2021 collection, Nicolas Ghesquière, Creative Director of the Women's Collections, in dialogue with Barnaba, draws inspiration from the Fornasetti archive, in particular from the prints depicting the ancient world. 

2022 On the occasion of Nomad St. Moritz 2022 presents “Lunario del Sole”, a special project including twelve tapestries named "Dodici mesi e dodici soli", unique works made in 2010, hand-knotted in wool and silk. He also presents a previously unseen tapestry, “Lunario del Sole”, fruit of the collaboration betweeen the Atelier and A Collection, the association founded by Giovanni Bonotto. At the same time, he shows the new edition of the Almanac conceived by Piero Fornasetti in the Fourties, with hand-painted figures by Barnaba and Valeria Manzi, produced in a limited edition of fifteen copies.

On the occasion of Nomad St Moritz 2023, Barnaba Fornasetti presented the project "A good hand", comprising a collection of furniture and accessories decorated on a theme dear to the Atelier, namely the world of playing cards. The combination of decoration and design that characterises the new creations expresses the metaphor of the "good hand", a reference both to the world of illusion and prestige games that playing cards evoke, and to the extraordinary skills of the craftsman who combines different materials to create true works of art.