neo-o-old: Where We Meet

An exhibition emerging from a silk residency

From April 21 to 26, 2026, neo-o-old, a cultural platform initiated by designer CHEN Min, will debut at Milan Design Week.

Presented in collaboration with CATHAYA, a silk manufacturer with more than 70 years of history, the exhibition grows out of neo-o-old’s residency program. Through this program, international artists are invited to work in China, engaging with silk and its related crafts in collaboration with artisans and local workshops. These exchanges ultimately take form in the exhibition.

Bringing together works developed through neo-o-old’s residency projects, the exhibition features Aldo Bakker, CHEN Min, Francesca Torzo, Masataka Hosoo, Raw Color, and Tim Enthoven. Beginning with silk, it extends into embroidery, dyeing, stone, bamboo, and object-making, tracing how material shapes the works, the space, and the act of viewing.

neo-o-old: Where We Meet

neo-o-old is not a singular statement, but an ongoing process. It understands time as a necessary condition for creation, and encounter as the basis on which a work takes shape.

Rooted in China, neo-o-old connects international artists with Chinese artisans through its residency program, allowing works to take shape gradually through actual workshops, material experiments, and repeated practice. Here, “meeting” extends beyond exchange between people; it also takes place between past and present, silk and embroidery, image and object, and craft knowledge and contemporary perception.

Where Minimal Space Meets Hospitality

Designed by Dutch artist Aldo Bakker, the exhibition space continues his restrained and precise spatial language, keeping the works as the focal point throughout. Rather than relying on decorative gestures, it establishes a quiet and ordered mode of viewing through proportion, distance, and the presence of the materials themselves.

Gambiered silk gauze is used in parts of the exhibition as a partition material. As one of the threads encountered during the residency, it brings into the space a local experience closely tied to nature, land, water, and craft, together with the Eastern aesthetics embedded within it.

Within this spatial framework, neo-o-old and SHANG XIA present a contemporary tea room conceived as a place of welcome. Anchored by a selection of SHANG XIA's furniture and collectible objects, including carbon fiber seating, bamboo weaving, and eggshell lacquer pieces, the space reflects the Maison's approach to material and form. The setting is conceived to be experienced in use rather than as a scenographic gesture.

Works Emerging from Silk

The works presented in this exhibition all emerge from neo-o-old’s residency projects and develop through the thread of silk. While they extend into different materials and forms, silk remains the point of departure, carrying through the works, the space, and the experience of viewing.

Inspired by his neo-o-old residency journey, Aldo Bakker presents Head through the craft of Chinese Su embroidery, constructing a subtle transition between surface and volume, image and material.

In Sketch, CHEN Min experiments with a way of making that is “close to the silkworm,” allowing silk to accumulate layer by layer until it gradually grows into a lamp.

Beginning from archives of traditional Chinese silk patterns, Masataka Hosoo takes Edo-period Japanese vegetable-dyed kimono as a point of departure, disassembling and recomposing historical textiles within a contemporary context.

Tim Enthoven, inspired by a British Shorthair cat encountered during research in Suzhou, introduces the structure of the I Ching into Cat Bed Sheet, where silk thread takes on a sculptural quality and divination is embedded into everyday use.

Inspired by the traditional Chinese colour system of the Five Elements and Five Colours, Raw Color creates Books of Silk: A Colour Study, rethinking colour through silk.

Francesca Torzo presents Luna, a minimal water element conceived for the garden, which, though made in stone, carries a silk-like sheen through its subtle reflections and quiet surface.

Silk therefore does not remain only as material, but continues to extend through the perception and viewing of different works.

About neo-o-old

neo-o-old is a cultural platform that connects global design with Eastern craft.

Initiated by designer CHEN Min, neo-o-old operates through an annual Artist Residency Program, inviting designers from around the world to work directly within Chinese workshops. Through close collaboration with local artisans, these residencies encourage designers to engage directly with traditional craft practices.

Each project results in a body of work that may include limited-edition art pieces, design archives, and curated exhibitions.

Beyond individual projects, neo-o-old functions as a long-term cultural exchange platform, connecting collectors, brands, and cultural institutions. Through co-creation and exhibitions, it fosters an ongoing global dialogue between craft and design.

Exhibition Details

Special Thanks to: CATHAYA Silk
Exhibition Dates: April 21–26, 2026
Location: Spazio MM, via Maroncelli 3, Milano

Further information and preview videos of the residency projects can be found on neo-o-old’s official Instagram:
@official.neooold