mooirae debut in Milan to ask: do male mental health issues inspire?

From the 5th until the 12th of June, during Milan's Design Week at Alcova, CONFESSIONS explores men's mental health through the lens of art and design. For the exhibit, 14 male-identifying artists collaborated with the therapeutic clinic Post Service, crafting their feelings about male mental health.

It may seem like a controversial subject for a design show, but the owner of flowerstudio / design and art gallery Tableau Copenhagen has never been afraid to ask the hard questions. For this reason, Julius Værnes Iversen invited mooirae, self-proclaimed muses, to wear his design and start conversations around men’s mental health.

On the ninth of June, amidst these male projections, two women come to ask questions; as oracles of intuition and vessels of inspiration, they create space for conversation. These mooirae believe that people can only be safe if they can own themselves and not feel judged, threatened or used. As part of their quest to fight confirmation bias, they ask: do men have the opportunity to feel? What makes them feel safe? Can flowers, design and art enhance a better mentality? What relationship do men have with flowers? Can being open minded and understanding towards the unknown help us to create a safer world for everyone?

"We feel the necessity of dialogue within society to destigmatize the mental health realities of all populations of people, especially those who are socialized to be less forthcoming around vulnerability and the self. Together with the therapeutic clinic, Post Service, and mooirae, we aim to highlight the subject of male mental health, in particular," - shares Julius Værnes Iversen, the creative director of Copenhagen's TABLEAU.

CONFESSIONS is a combination of expressions amidst the feminine zeitgeist. The exploration of the role of design and art in male mental health is conveyed through introspection, conversation, flowers and music: musician Cédric Elisabeth created a sound piece in collaboration with each artist. As vessels of the future, mooirae channel the artists’ and gallerists' questions around emancipation in all its forms. This pertains to the emancipation and value systems projected onto humanity, design, art, intuition and creativity.

Whether you would want to name them forecasters, muses, oracles or fates, mooirae are here. Gifted with intuition, they see all possibilities and intend to share these with those who look, feel and listen but do not judge. They appear in situations where people might feel out of place. To them that can be anywhere. Seek them and you shall find. At CONFESSIONS, for example.

mooirae will be in Milan for a couple of days. Their belief in the democratization of knowledge and access compels them to appear in a variety of places.

mooirae question current structures by reclaiming their roles as oracles, see-ers, muses and forecasters. Not because they want to, but because they are forced to by existing paradigms. Vision, intuition and creativity are valued… but how? Who is revered in their role as visionary? And why? In what contexts do we listen to what we see? Do we need extrinsic systems to validate or rationalize our thoughts? What constitutes the existence and value of ideas, and how do we create safe spaces for post-generational sharing? Etc.

Connect and be inspired with mooirae via: Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest (@mooirae).