Roberto Palomba and Marco Sabetta in Singapore for the ABITO exhibition, meetings with local industry stakeholders and discussions on the international outlook of Salone del Mobile.Milano.
Singapore, 17 October 2026 – Italian design was at the heart of a series of initiatives in Singapore featuring architect Roberto Palomba, co-curator of the ABITO exhibition, and Marco Sabetta, General Manager of Salone del Mobile.Milano. Hosted at the National Gallery Singapore from 3 to 17 October, ABITO provided an opportunity to complement the exhibition’s international presentation with a programme of meetings involving industry stakeholders and institutional representatives.
Among the key engagements, the Business and Diplomacy Panel, organised by the Embassy of Italy in Singapore in coordination with the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), explored opportunities for Italian companies to expand into international markets. The event also featured a presentation of OpportunItaly, an export acceleration programme promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and coordinated by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA). The programme facilitates connections between Italian companies, buyers and potential international partners through business-matching tools, including the Buyers Club.
On the institutional front, Marco Sabetta met with Tamsim Greulich, Group Head, Community Engagement & Activation Group at the DesignSingapore Council, to explore opportunities for collaboration with Singapore’s design community.
Palomba and Sabetta also discussed ABITO and the prospects for Italian design in an interview with journalist Melanie Oliveiro on CNA938, a Singapore radio station. The conversation covered the relationship between fashion and design, as well as Salone del Mobile.Milano’s international strategy ahead of its 2027 edition.
The relationship between design, fashion and social change was also explored at Vogue Living Conversations, where Roberto Palomba took part in the session “ABITO—Designing Her World: Fashion, Design and the Changing Shape of Women’s Lives”. The programme also included engagements with several players in the Italian design sector, including Poltrona Frau, Royal Interiors and Kartell, as well as guided tours of the exhibition for different audiences, from Vogue guests to students from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA).
The presence of Roberto Palomba and Marco Sabetta highlighted the many dimensions of Italian design, from design research and cultural expression to engagement with industry, opportunities for international expansion and the development of new relationships across Asian markets.
