On the first day of the show, a jury of experts, consisting of Stellina Fabbri (director of Ornamenta ModaBijoux), Andrea Barra (stylist), Emilio Cressoni (costume jewellery designer), Stefania Lovato/Sara d’Angiulli (PR Dielle Consulting), Marialuisa Modiglioni (owner of ControBuffet – Milano), Sarah Covi (freelance journalist) and Claudia Jesi (vintage expert), will judge the creations and nominate the 12 finalists who will take compete for the final awards.
“This is a real opportunity. says Macef exhibition director, Nello Martini – to give space and visibility to creative talent and style”. The event will culminate with an awards ceremony and cocktail party to be held on Saturday, 19 at 12.00 noon in the Ornamenta space, where the creations of the 12 finalists will be on display for the duration of the show. (Hall 12 G12-G20).

Art & Flowers by Macef 2008 – After the successful debut of floral art in September 2007, the next Macef January will again give room to flowers and flower arrangements as decorative elements for the home (a suggestion for consumers) and for retails outlets (and this a technical-professional suggestion for visitors to Macef). Art & Flowers by Macef 2008 is organized by Floral Designer, International School of Floral Art, which publishes the magazine Floral Design among others.
The theme of this first edition is “Flowers & Music” and the settings for the various performers who will follow each other on Friday, Saturday and Monday – working against a refined musical background - are inspired by St Valentine’s Day, Spring, Women’s Day, Easter and The Bride (with a show of models wearing wedding dresses), while Sunday 20 will be dedicated to a competition between floral designers. This will see seven teams of floral designers competing in three tests. The first test (for which they have 2 hrs.) will be on the theme “The Paintings of Vincent Van Gogh”; the second (45 mins.) on the theme “The World…in a Flower” and the last (45 mins.) “The Macef Home”.
A jury composed of three Master Floral Designers (from the Floral Designer School), a journalist and an interior designer (supplied by Macef) will be asked to judge the works. Prizes will be awarded on the same Sunday at 6.00pm.

Macef and food – The tastiest pairing at Macef January 2008 will be that between the home (specifically the table and the kitchen) and food - inevitable for a show that for over forty years has made the table one of its cornerstones. Macef, International Home Show, will expand on the theme of the relationship between food and the utensils/products/services connected with it through initiatives - the Massimo Martini International Design Award and an area within the show dedicated to the food of the future. Both aspects are, however, logically and physically connected, forming two original and different perspectives on the same topic.

MASSIMO MARTINI DESIGN AWARD
The award, reserved for young designers from all over the world, and organized through the specialist website www.designboom.com, is entitled Dining in 2015, and is divided into three sections: at work - during travel - at home. The competition asks participants to design cutlery, cookware, tableware and utensils for the table and the kitchen (excluding electrical appliances) with inevitable reference to the stereotypes that form our vision of a “future possible”.
“We chose to set our Dining in 2015 – says MACEF exhibition director, Nello Martini – because among the numerous future possibles, 2015 could see Milan, but also the whole of Italy, hosting the Expo World’s Fair, which would truly be a magnifying glass under which the whole world could examine all our real and supposed abilities. So 2015 is the target of excellence we are all aiming for”.

More than 4,800 projects have been submitted from 98 countries (Italy in the lead with 466 projects, but there are also 353 from China, 289 from the United States, 212 from Korea, 193 from India 198 from Portugal….) A very high proportion (42.7%) of entries are by women. Such a high level of participation is explained by the extent of the professional audience the designers hope to reach, and the opportunity, which past experience has shown to be much more than a mere hypothesis, of finding industrial partners to work at Macef.
Prizes will be awarded for three designs - one in each category. (Hall 9, A11-C20).