O-STA

Design Miami/Basel Presents Top International Decorative Arts Dealers, Designers and Museums for the First Time in Basel, Switzerland

BASEL, Switzerland

- Design Miami Becomes an International Event

- JUNE 13 - JUNE 16, 2006

- Organized in Cooperation With and Endorsed by Art Basel

Design Miami/Basel, an exclusive invitational design event featuring 17

of the most significant galleries exhibiting modern to contemporary

museum-quality design and decorative arts, will run concurrently with Art

Basel in Basel, Switzerland. Design Miami/Basel is premiering just six months

after Design Miami (formerly design.05 Miami) eclipsed organizers'

expectations, drawing nearly 7,000 visitors to the Miami Design District

during Art Basel Miami Beach. Design Miami/Basel will take place at both the

Foyer Theater Basel, located at Elisabethenstrasse 16, CH-4010 Basel and the

church Elisabethenkirche, located at Elisabethenstrasse 10, CH-4051 Basel.

Design Miami/ Basel will be open Tuesday, June 13-Friday, June 16, from 9

a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. The Design Miami/Basel Vernissage will take place on

June 12, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. The press preview will begin at 4 p.m. on

June 12. The Nocturne Private View will be held on Wednesday, June 14 from 7

p.m. to 9 p.m.

"With the momentum of Design Miami behind us, Design Miami/Basel promises

to bring to Europe the same mix of high-quality design that made our

inaugural event such an overwhelming success," said Ambra Medda, the director

of Design Miami/Basel. "We are thrilled to introduce to Europe a new forum

for collecting, exhibiting, discussing, and creating design," she said.

Design Miami/Basel will bring together the world's most exclusive

collectors and connoisseurs for a showcase of the best in design during the

world's premier art fair. Participating galleries include Antik (NY); Demisch

Danant (NY); Barry Friedman Ltd. (NY); Magen H. Gallery (NY); Nilufar

(Milan); Galerie Italienne (Paris); R 20th Century (NY); Galerie Kreo

(Paris); Galerie Patrick Seguin (Paris); Philippe Jousse (Paris); Cristina

Grajales (NY); Contrasts Gallery (Shanghai); and Galerie Downtown- Francois

Laffanour (Paris). Joining the roster of the world's leading design galleries

is Dansk Mobelkunst (Copenhagen/Paris); Galerie Ulrich Fiedler (Cologne);

Mouvements Modernes (Paris); and Philippe Denys (Brussels).

Design Miami/Basel will inaugurate an annual Designer of the Future award

to complement the Designer of the Year award established at Design Miami. The

first Designer of the Future award will go to British design and

manufacturing company Established & Sons. A gala reception for the Designer

of the Future will be held at the Les Trois Rois Hotel. Design Miami/ Basel

will host an array of design exhibitions and symposiums, including

interview-style talks with top designers and a panel discussion on

architecture and design. Panelists will include internationally recognized

designers, as well as curators and museum directors from the Cooper-Hewitt

Museum, the V&A in London, Miami's Wolfsonian Museum, MoMA, and Vitra. Design

Miami/ Basel, slated to become an annual event, is an independent enterprise

organized in cooperation with Art Basel and endorsed by Vitra and Herzog & de

Meuron.

DIRECTOR, AMBRA MEDDA

Ambra Medda co-founded this past December's much-lauded Design Miami and

continues to serve as its director. Ms. Medda received a joint degree in

Chinese Language and Culture and Asian Art from the School of Oriental and

African Studies at London University.

ABOUT DESIGN MIAMI/BASEL

Design Miami/Basel is an independent enterprise organized in cooperation

with and endorsed by Art Basel. The event coincides with Art Basel 2006 in

Switzerland and will take place June 13 - 16, 2006. Design Miami/Basel

endeavors to do for design what Art Basel has done for contemporary art,

bringing together the best collectors, connoisseurs, artists and designers

from around the world in one of the premier destinations for art and design.

Design Miami will continue to run concurrently with Art Basel Miami Beach in

the Miami Design District.

Design Miami/ Basel Press Conference

An opportunity to preview the galleries including a special exhibition by

the "Designer of the Future" - Established & Sons

Monday, 12th June 2006, from 4.00 p.m.

at the Foyer Theater Basel, Elisabethenstrasse 16, Basel, Switzerland

Agenda

from 3.30 p.m. arrival of the journalists

4.00 p.m. salutation and presentation of Design Miami/Basel by Ambra

Medda, Director and Co-Founder

4.15 p.m. presentation by gallery owners

from 4.30 p.m. free preview of the exhibition and possibility for

individual meetings with gallery owners

from 5.00 p.m. Design Miami/ Basel Vernissage at the Foyer Theater Basel

and Elisabethenkirche

Please send your registration until Tuesday, 6th June 2006 to Fax.:

+41-43-266-88-44 or send an E-mail to: designmiami@crkom.ch. Thank you.

Contact:

For further information and interview requests with Ambra Medda and

gallery owners please contact:

cR Kommunikation

Salome Funfschilling

St. Jakobs-Strasse 185

4002 Basel

Phone number: +41-61-312-37-29

E-Mail: designmiami@crkom.ch