Design – Mamali Shafahi & Domenico Gutknecht, Marseille and Paris

Mamali Shafahi & Domenico Gutknecht, Maysam Ahangari

Tales from the Garden is a collaborative installation conceived as an immersive environment where sculptural design objects, floral interventions, light, and spatial composition merge into a single narrative experience.

 

The project is developed by Mamali Shafahi and Domenico Gutknecht, working as an artistic duo, in dialogue with invited floral collaborators. Over the past few years, Mamali and Domenico have gradually expanded their artistic practice toward the creation of functional and sculptural design objects—chairs, vases, fountains, and hybrid forms—positioned deliberately between art and design. This evolution stems from a desire to explore how narrative, mythology, and symbolism can inhabit everyday objects, transforming them into vessels of emotion, ritual, and storytelling.

 

For this project, Mamali and Domenico invite Maysam Ahangari, founder of the Milan-based floral project HON(Haus of Ninja), to join them in creating a site-responsive installation that weaves together floral structures, light, and scenography. Tales from the Garden is conceived as an experiential space—one that encourages wandering, pause, and contemplation. It reflects a shared interest in bridging disciplines and dissolving boundaries: between art and design, object and environment, nature and fabrication