A visionary of the contemporary scene (for fifty years), Robert Wilson brings to Salone del Mobile.Milano 2025 three interventions that rewrite space through light, sound and matter. His approach, rooted in the architecture of perception, transforms the object into a dramaturgical element, creating a dialogue between design, theatre and the visual arts.
Robert Wilson – Photo © Lucie Jansch
On April 7, the Teatro alla Scala will be the stage for The Night Before – Objects, Chairs, Opera, the inaugural event of the Salone conceived by Wilson. With the orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala conducted by Michele Spotti, the intervention fuses design, opera and light architecture in a staging in which light becomes the metastructure of the story.
Fritzi’s Chair, design Robert Wilson
Electric Chair by Kartell, design Robert Wilson
A visual, musical and emotional experience in which the visual rhythm alternates between monumentality and thinness, sculpting the space with luminous surfaces that intensify the contrast between solids and voids.
From April 8 to May 18, Wilson will dialogue with Michelangelo’s Pietà Rondanini through Mother, an installation that transforms the stone material with light and sound. The lighting emphasizes the sculpture’s upward tension, suspending it in a hypnotic atmosphere, while Arvo Pärt’s Stabat Mater creates an atmosphere of sonic rarefaction that reinforces the contemplative dimension.
Pietà Rondarini – Photo © Paolo Gallo
Arvo Pärt
On April 10, as part of the Euroluce International Lighting Forum, Wilson will give a master class on the phenomenology of light in theatrical and installation projects. Through a genealogy of his research, he will explore the spatialization of sound, the theatricality of the object, and the construction of immersive experiences.
Wilson’s presence at the Salone reaffirms his transversal vision, rooted in works such as Einstein on the Beach (1976), where the musical score and scenic geometries draw a visual and design grammar. A language that lends itself to theater, opera, design and fashion: in a recent collaboration with Dior, Wilson created a tableau vivant inspired by Kabuki theater, with architectural bodies immersed in an abstract light construction, amplified by the minimal music of Philip Glass.
All images from Robert Wilson’s shows courtesy of RW Work, Ltd.
