At Wallpaper* we have followed the rise of the British-Italian curator, writer and gallery Alex Tiighi-Walker with a lot of interestThe news of his appointment as curator of the Brompton Design District Program 2025 for the London Design Festival was a welcome development – and we looked at September with new anticipation.
After the venerable Jane Withers, he joins the role that shaped the district about her 16-year term and probably defined. Tieghi Walker-Desen New York Gallery Tiwa Select has become a pilgrimage for design collectors and appreciators, has created an independent curatorial voice that is rooted in material-guided, emotionally resonant craft and design. This September promises its exhibition program and interventions to bring new perspectives and renewed energy into the district. Tieghi-Walker incorporates new voices, softer sensitives and unconventional formats on the legacy of Withers. We caught up with him in his New York gallery to learn more about thinking behind this year's topic “A softer world”.
Alex Tiighi-Walker, why he wants to show the softer side of the design in the Brompton Design District from LDF 2025
Tieghi Walker curated first
(Photo credit: Photo by Andy Stagg)
Wallpaper*: How did your role as curator of the Brompton Design District?
Alex My-Walker: Everything came because Jane [Withers] decided to continue from the role [after 16 years at the helm]. The team behind Brompton Design District had seen my work at Frieze – the group exhibition that I curated in London in 2023 and was aware of what I did with the gallery here in New York.
In particular, they were interested in the way I talked about design – really in the intersection of craft, applied arts and designs. I have no training in art or design. I am completely autodidactic. This started as a passion project that developed into a gallery, and I think that gives me a unique lens that felt appealing for this role.
The Welshititarian curator based in New York puts its fascination for craft, applied arts and design in the foreground
(Photo credit: Maureen Evans)
W*: What does this year mean this year, “a softer world”, for you?
ATW: This topic was the key to my practice. I think it was historically about making a lot of noise-it was hyper-masculine, hyper-designed, a lot of design with a capital D. You still see that you go to the Milan Design Week or Salone.
I just think that there is another side that is gentle and slower and more considerate. A bit like the Slow Food movement, in which we went to a little more about community and meaning from Michelin-Stern plate.
'Craftsmanship has this innate feeling of softness, gentleness and domesticity. I really wanted to bring that into the topic – softness as a strength, not as a weakness'
Alex My-Walker
My design approach is based on materials. It is about people who work with materials, with their hands, in the processed sense. Design comes from the craft – they are connected and we cannot separate them. Craftsmanship has this innate feeling of softness, gentleness and domesticity. I really wanted to bring that into the topic – the softness as a strength, not as a weakness.
Tieghi-Walker has invited New York Tione Trice to curate a show that includes the work of the London wood artist Darren Appiagyei
(Photo credit: with the kind permission of Darren Appiagieii)
W*: How do you shape the program this year?
ATW: This is the first time that I curate something on a circle level. I am used to exhibitions in my small gallery to curate-in line with the salon show that I made in the Cork Street.
I have invited various curators to take over different rooms, e.g. the designer Charlotte Taylor, who proposed a show called “Soft World, sharp edges”; and Tione Trice from the vintage shop of the fabric in New York. He works very closely with Knowles and captivates artists such as Nigerian-American designer Myles Igwebuike and Darren Appiagiei, who work in Wood and work in Deptford.
Each of these curators brings something completely different from the district – and I think I put on different target groups. Charlotte, for example, shows all female designers. Holly has a strong connection to fashion. Tion brings a diasporic lens that is rooted in American South and West Africa.
This is part of why I wanted to invite other curators – it expands the cultural points of contact and brings designers to the fold that was not on my radar. Brompton needs more than one perspective. This is the joy of a design district, not just a gallery.
The work of the Nigerian-American designer Myles Igwebuike is also displayed in Trice's Show
(Photo credit: with the kind permission of Myles Igwebuike)
W*: You use living and non-traditional rooms in the entire district. Why?
ATW: The white box gallery room can be intimidating. Part of my program is to create spaces that feel familiar and generously. We take over old buildings – apartments, houses, shops – and give you young curators who may otherwise not be able to afford to take part in a design fair.
I tried to do things with Salone and 3 Days of Design, and frankly it is only financially narrowed. I can't afford it. So I thought – what if we use these rooms so that the district feels more open?
“This is about people who may have thought, one thing is and show them that it can be something completely different.”
Alex My-Walker
People love the open house of London – in places to which they usually have no access. There is a nose and I think that can be a gateway to the design. In my gallery in New York, also my home, I always tried to reduce this barrier.
This is about bringing people into one thing who may have thought, one thing in a kind of environment – and show them that it can be something completely different.
Empire House and Dalmeny House, two historic mixed buildings, are opened as part of the Brompton Design District.
(Photo credit: with the kind permission of the Brompton Design District)
W*: What energy do you hope for Brompton this year?
ATW: Jane laid a really excellent basis, so my main challenge is the work of recent years and not too far in a crazy direction. This district has 18 years of training quite smoothly. So it's about asking: How can I bring in my curatorial sensitivity? How can I bring my version from which design?
“I have the feeling that my generation works differently than traditional galleries. There is a real focus on community, not just on trade. '
Alex My-Walker
I am a new one in the design world and feel like my generation – and my colleagues here in New York – work, unlike traditional galleries. There is a real focus on community, not just on the market. There is a big ethical point of view in my practice, and I don't just mean representation or sustainability. I mean: Who does the work, who takes part, what conversations do we have and how do we think about the longevity of the design?
Tieghi Walker-Galerie Tiwa Select has hosted shows for a wide range of established and aspiring names, such as: B. the British designer Faye Toogood
(Photo credit: Photo by Sean Davidson)
W*: You lived in California and New York. How was it to get back to work in London?
ATW: It was really fun to be able to call British again! I left London about 11 years ago, and this was a nice way to connect again.
I don't say that London is scrappier, but I think the corporate culture in the USA slows down things. Things are expensive and restrictive – they often know exactly what their reach is. In London, people are more connected and more ready to share.
It is much freer and more informal. I don't know if I would have said that before, but London feels really more open in comparison.
In 2022, Max Farago from Farago and Alex Tighi Walker from Tiwa curated a show in Los Angeles while Fries, who celebrated talents with more unconventional practices and careers
(Photo credit: Photo with the kind permission of Tiwa Select)
W*: How did you get a gallery?
ATW: If you had told me ten years ago I would have been running a gallery, I would have thought that it was canceled. But now I think of everything I did – write, film, photography -, everything has come together that makes sense.
I moved to California after I lost a parent and needed a big change. North California was a touch of fresh air. It gave me a new relationship with nature, craft and pace. I worked in a winery, really stood in food and community – and that became that people wanted to bring the design together.
“It's not about my voice. I curate the neighborhood, but my job is to 'invite' others 'invite'
Alex My-Walker
The gallery should not be a gallery. It would be a number of unique exhibitions that focused on meals. Then it would be a business. It accidentally carved into a gallery.
But even now food is central. I cook lunch every day in the gallery. Anyone who is here at lunch is fed. This is the spirit of space – and I try to bring that to Brompton. It's not about my voice. I curate the neighborhood, but my job is to invite others – people say their truth and share their design version in the world.
Brompton Design District at the London Design Festival runs between September 13 and 21, 2025.
Further information and the full program here: Bromptondesigndistrict.com
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