Etnia Barcelona, an independent eyewear brand known for its commitment to art, quality, and color, presents Moi Aussi by Etnia Barcelona, a creative project driven by Andrea Zampol D’Ortia, optician and art lover, with the aim of becoming a global platform where artists from all over the world can express themselves and make their artistic careers known.
Since its beginnings more than 20 years ago, Etnia Barcelona has integrated art into its DNA, considering it as a way of understanding the world. This philosophy is reflected in all its campaigns and collaborations with artists. With Moi Aussi, the Barcelona eyewear brand combines art and optics by working closely with artists and highlighting its leitmotif “BEANARTIST”, which translates as “Rebel through art”.
In line with this philosophy and as a tribute to art and artists, the brand goes a step further with the acquisition of the Church Dell’Abbazia Della Misericordia in Venice, a historic space completely rebuilt in the thirteenth century, which will be renovated and fitted out to become the Moi Aussi Creative Laboratory, the place of work and stay of 24 international artists who will be part of the project each year. This laboratory will also be open to other established artists or artistic collectives who wish to exhibit their work in Venice.
Moi Aussi is much more than a brand, it is an artistic project conceived as a creative movement that embraces artists from all over the world transcending any cultural border and ensuring that the true purpose of art triumphs over any diversity of culture, religion or ethnicity. Cultural diversity represents the strength of the Moi Aussi artistic community, the meaning of which reflects both the artists’ desire to be part of this community and the beginning of their journey, offering them artistic support and global visibility.
This project, aimed at an art world that is elevated, but also fresh, bold, and young, is based on three fundamental pillars: art, emotion, and contrast. Moi Aussi represents the artist’s manifesto, which in turn represents these three pillars and the declaration of intentions of this artistic movement.
The Moi Aussi logo is based on the verticality of the architectural elements of the Abbazia della Misericordia: pillars, columns, and stained glass windows. Thus, the purest geometric shapes match the poetry behind the project. This approach symbolizes the unique and distinctive personality of each artist, representing “MOI” as the soul of the artist and “AUSSI” as the sense of belonging to the artistic community, creating a balance between formality and creative expression.
An art commission, formed by specialists from different disciplines of the art world, will be in charge of selecting the artists who will participate annually in this experience.
Each month, THE CREATIVE LAB will host two of these artists, who will live together and create five pieces of art from a pair of glasses frames. These will serve as a canvas for each one of them to create their own work of art with freedom and imagination.
Of these five pieces, one will remain in the Moi Aussi Gallery, another will be exhibited in the Etnia Barcelona Museum, two works will be exhibited in art museums around the world and the last piece will be offered for sale through an auction.
All proceeds will be used for reinvestment and sustainability of the Moi Aussi project.
About Etnia Barcelona
Etnia Barcelona was first born as an independent eyewear brand back in 2001. All its collections are developed from beginning to end by the brand’s own design team, which is fully responsible for the entire creative process. Above all, Etnia Barcelona stands out for its use of color in every one of its designs, making it currently the firm with the most color references in the entire eyewear sector. All its glasses are crafted in the highest quality natural materials, such as Mazzucchelli natural acetates and HD mineral lenses. Today the firm boasts a presence in over 50 countries and more than 15,000 points of sale around the world. It operates out of its Barcelona HQ and has subsidiaries in Miami, Vancouver, and Hong Kong, employing a multidisciplinary team of more than 650 people. #BeAnartist is the watchword of Etnia Barcelona. It is a call to express oneself freely through design. Etnia Barcelona embraces color, art, and culture but, more than anything else, it is a name intimately bound to the city in which it was born and has thrived.
