Impact case study database

Starting in 2015, Rossi’s research has had continuing impact on the exhibition subjects, programmes and collection practices of internationally significant museums and galleries in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, and the UK. It has informed the development of new types of exhibitions on nightlife, as well as the collection and preservation of the material heritage of nightclubs. This has led to increased public and media engagement with the subject, generating new audiences for venues and increasing the range of venues engaging with VDM design exhibitions. For instance, awareness of her work led to an invitation to be a Trustee for the London-based Youth Club Archive in 2017, where Rossi is contributing to its future plans for a UK Museum of Youth Culture.

1. Curatorial Activity: New Exhibitions and Exhibition Content, 2015 – 2020 ongoing

The primary impact of Rossi’s research and curatorial practice-research has been on the programming, collection and curatorial practices of design museums internationally. Her work has been critical in establishing club design and culture as a new area of activity in major cultural institutions, with the potential to elicit positive media and audience response. In 2015, Radical Disco was exhibited at the ICA, London. This was the first major stand-alone exhibition of club culture and design in the UK. In a letter to the university, the ICA’s Associate Curator underlines the importance of Rossi’s research and practice to the ICA’s decision to develop this exhibit; noting that ‘ Radical Disco was born out of Rossi’s pre-existing research into post-war Italian design and architecture’. Importantly, the letter highlights that it was Rossi’s curatorial work on Space Electronic that ‘ brought my attention to this little-known period of experimentation’. In addition, the letter identifies ‘Architecture Goes Disco’ and ‘The Italian Avant-Garde’ as ‘ foundational in the development of the (ICA) exhibition’ [S1].

Rossi’s research for Radical Disco also came to the attention of other European venues, developing content on club culture design history. The Villa Noialles in Hyères, in France, staged a 2017 exhibition entitled La Boîte du Nuit (19^th February – 19^th March 2017), directly referencing Rossi’s research, particularly her work on Radical Disco, as ‘ one of the most relevant and interesting work(s) we’ve based our research on’ [S2]. The exhibition leaflet states that ‘ the selection here relies notably upon research’ undertaken by Rossi [S2]. As a result of Rossi’s curatorial research, she was invited to participate in the exhibition’s events programme.

Between 2016 and 2018 Rossi developed the touring exhibition Night Fever with VDM in Weil-am-Rhein, Germany; the organisation’s first exhibition on club culture. VDM’s Chief Curator Jochen Eisenbrand has identified Rossi’s ‘ pioneering research and outstanding expertise in this field, in particular her exhibitions Space Electronic and Radical Disco, [as] a major inspiration to stage Night Fever’. VDM’s Director had seen Space Electronic in 2014, leading to an invitation to Rossi to co-curate Night Fever in 2016. The relationship of Rossi’s research is further foregrounded in the VDM exhibition, which opens with a section on Radical Design nightclubs [S3]. As Eisenbrand has noted, Rossi ‘ was one of the first scholars to put the topic of the interconnectedness of nightclubs with the field of design in Italy on the map’ [S3]. Furthermore, the curatorial approach developed by Eisenbrand, Rossi and Serulus, has informed its presentation in the touring venues (listed below).

Following the successful development of Night Fever for its initial venue, Rossi’s research has informed the development of new exhibition content and programming in other cultural institutions across Europe. VDM secured 5 touring venues for Night Fever: ADAM Design Museum (Brussels, 21 November 2018 – 5 May 2019), Centro Pecci (Prato, June – October 2019), Designmuseum Danmark (Copenhagen, 2020); V&A Dundee (2021 forthcoming) and HOTA (Queensland, 2023 forthcoming). At each venue, the narrative and content of Night Fever has been enhanced to pay attention to its new location and audiences. This has generated new research, the identification of additional exhibits, and the development of supporting programme content, thus bringing the material heritage of nightlife to wider attention. For example, Designmuseum Danmark commissioned designer Johannes Torpe to create a 1:1 replica of a section of former Copenhagen NASA nightclub, which he had designed in 1997, for the final section of their exhibition. In support of the exhibition at ADAM Design Museum, Brussels, the tourist organisation Visit Brussels financed a freely distributed ‘Brussels Club Map’. This was in collaboration with ADAM, and designed by the exhibition’s graphic designer, to coincide with the exhibition’s opening at the Brussels venue.

In advance of the exhibition opening at the V&A Dundee (delayed due to Covid-19), new curatorial content is already being developed. As the Director of Programme at V&A Dundee points out, ‘ Our decision to programme Night Fever at V&A Dundee was informed by the strong curatorial narrative developed by Rossi, Eisenbrand and Serulus…This is the first time the Museum has hosted an exhibition on design and club culture’. She continues to state that ‘ Rossi’s research for Night Fever and our subsequent discussions and email exchanges have informed our curatorial activity at the museum and has led to our identification of new artifacts and sections for the exhibition’s installation here’ [S4].

In addition, Night Fever’s co-curator Nina Serulus followed the successful staging of the exhibition at ADAM Design Museum, Brussels, with another club culture exhibition focussed on Belgian graphic design. Designing the Night: Graphic Design of Belgian Club Culture (1^st March 2019 – 29^th September 2019), was an extension of the approach taken for the VDM exhibition, which ‘ originated in Night Fever: I would have never delved into the subject without the former exhibition’. Serulus emphasises how she ‘ utilized the intellectual framework developed in Night Fever to make this smaller, additional, Belgian focused graphic design exhibition’ [S5].

2. Publicity and Media Coverage for Institutions

Rossi’s research has generated significant publicity and media awareness for 3 of the exhibiting institutions so far. Radical Disco featured in over 25 print and digital media platforms including newspapers, fashion and music sites, and radio programmes. Night Fever has received over 200 radio, television, print and online appearances, in mainstream and architecture, design and music specialist outlets, in over 12 countries. According to Jochen Eisenbrand, VDM’s Chief Curator, ‘ In terms of press coverage…this exhibition was the most successful I ever dealt with’ [S2]. Night Fever has also increased the profile of a new museum and an ADAM co-curator posits Rossi’s work as fundamental to its success, noting that Night Fever ‘ put the subject on the agenda of both museums, but also foreign media to write about it’ [S5].

3. New Audiences

The exhibitions cited have generated healthy visitor figures in all their venues, with an increase in new and younger visitors, as well as positive feedback. For example, the ICA’s Executive Director has praised Radical Disco’s ‘ fantastic response’ with over 30,000 visitors, over 10,000 web page visits, and ‘ positive feedback’ [S6]. Night Fever received over 103,000 visitors at the first 3 venues. VDM’s Chief Curator Eisenbrand comments echo those above, noting that ‘ Night Fever brought us many new visitors, especially among a younger generation: our 2018 visitor survey… indicated a substantial number of first-time visitors to the Vitra Campus. 11% of all visitors in 2018 visited the Campus due to Night Fever’ [S3]. Whilst not all visitor figures for venues have been made available due to Covid-19 delays, the trajectory of evidence signals the critical importance of Rossi’s nightclub research on the audience profile for international venues.

VDM tours its exhibitions extensively all over the world. However, Night Fever was the first VDM exhibition to be staged at Italian, Danish and Australian venues, and therefore has contributed to VDM’s expansion of its touring partnerships and engagement with wider international audiences. Sales of the accompanying VDM catalogue, co-authored and co-edited by Rossi, have also been successful: by December 2020, the English edition of 4500 sold out (including the pre-orders for V&A Dundee and HOTA Australia) and the German addition has sold 1200 copies [S7].