Agenda 2009

Project Pallet

The Pallet Collection
until Friday 9 October 2009

Jacqueline Rabun Gallery, London

Later this month Danish designer Nina Tolstrup of Studiomama will be exhibiting a collection of furniture pieces made from reclaimed pallets. Aside from the obvious sustainable connection, the social aspects of the project are built in rather than added on.

You can buy pieces of the Pallet Collection pre-made, but with the assembly guidelines also sold online, the furniture can be recreated from your local pallet source. And giving further flesh to the project, Tolstrup allowed photographer and gallerist Cecilia Glik to teach unemployed workers in the Lugano district of Buenos Aires how to make the furniture, which is then sold through local networks or globally online.

The show in London takes place during the London Design Festival and will include a set of limited edition pallet chairs by British artists Gavin Turk and Cornelia Parker, which will be auctioned on the Studiomama website with proceeds going directly to the community project in Buenos Aires.

Low pallet

London Design Festival

until Sunday 27 September 2009

Various locations, London, United Kingdom

Time to get the tube map out. The LDF is made up of around 200 events and activities including international exhibitions, trade events, local showcases, installations, talks and seminars, product launches, private views – and of course, the odd party. The LDF hub has relocated to the V&A Museum this year, but among the many highlights are the trade fairs 100% Design and Tent; the Designersblock show; Jaime Hayón’s giant ceramic chess pieces at Trafalgar Square; Size + Matter, for which Shigeru Ban will create a temporary installations outside The Royal Festival Hall; and the Maker Difference project by Cockpit Arts.

‘The Tournament’ by Jaime Hayón for the London Design Festival 2009, © Hayonstudio

The Art of Fashion: Installing Allusions

until Sunday 10 January 2010

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

This exhibition aims to investigate the borders between fashion and art, acknowledging the way in which today’s fashion designers use installations and performances, and the increasingly sculptural qualities of their work. At the heart of the show are exclusive new works by five top international designers. Invited by the H+F Fashion on the Edge Foundation, Viktor & Rolf, Naomi Filmer, Hussein Chalayan, Anna-Nicole Ziesche and Walter Van Beirendonck, embody an interface between fashion and art that abandons the principle of a wearable collection and seeks out new boundaries of fashion. Alongside these five showpieces, the exhibition presents the work of a further 25 international artists and fashion designers.

 

Viktor & Rolf, dress from the Bedtime Story collection

Abitare Il Tempo

until Monday 21 September 2009

Veronafiere,Verona, Italy

The 24th edition of this trade fair is strap-lined Quality Beyond the Crisis, From Design to Distribution and its organiser and curator, Carlo Amadori, aims to bring 18 different sectors, all linked to the décor sector, together in a ‘river of ideas’. From furniture, kitchens, bathrooms, textiles, lighting, tableware, floor & wall coverings and upholstery, a selection of ‘total living’ is offered for both classic and contemporary tastes. Running parallel to ArtVerona for the first time, special exhibitions include a 25-year celebration of Sawaya & Moroni and Beautiful by Day, Beautiful by Night, featuring 16 totemic ceramics by Linde Burkhardt.

Marbleous Garden by Patricia Urquiola

Delvaux 180 Years Of Belgian Luxury

until Sunday 21 February 2010

Fashion Museum (MoMu), Antwerp, Belgium

Over nearly two centuries of luxury goods have come from the Belgian house of Delvaux, and this exhibition charts the twists and turns in its creative development from the first Brussels workshop in 1829 to the influence of its most recent artistic director, Veronique Branquinho. According to curator, Hettie Judah, ‘Delvaux was created at a time when travelling for pleasure was a luxury reserved for the very few; within the space of a few decades, the company was catering to business travellers on the first continental railways, and Red Star Line tourists cruising out of Antwerp to New York. As well as examining the evolution of luggage in this historical context, we have also looked into the company’s creative history, showing the stylistic developments made by designers behind the scenes over the last century and examining the complex process that goes into designing and making a bag today.’

Delvaux-signature used at the inside of each leather article © Photography Wout Hendrickx

Platform21 = Jamming

Happy Jamming Hour every day from 17:00!
until Saturday 26 September 2009

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Bypassing bedside coffee-makers and reviving the inventive spirit of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the grand finale of Amsterdam’s Platform 21 is throwing everything into the mix. Japanese designer Yuri Suzuki and artist Masa Kimura will be building a breakfast machine reusing the debris of past Platform 21 projects, with some help from previous contributors to the cause and that great unpredictable, the public. For those who like their eggs with remote-controlled cars, hacked IKEA lamps and a topping of improvisation.

Watch the trailer of Platform21 = Jamming on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPCnRyTKlhc

Platform21 = Jamming is part of Dutch Design Double.

Soft City

until Sunday 8 November 2009

Stroom Den Haag, Netherlands

It’s top-down and bottom’s-up at Stroom Den Haag from the middle of September. Soft City features the work of Azra Aksamija (1976, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzeoginva), Pushwagner (1940, Oslo, Norway) and Dubravka Sekulić (1980, Nis Serbia), giving three artists’ depictions of the ‘mental, psychological and socio-economic effects of how people are organising or are being organised.’

Hariton Pushwagner’s pictorial novel Soft City (1969-1975) is the obvious title-bearer of the exhibition, proving that an Orwellian dystopian sensibility is still as unsettling as it sounds.

Aksamija’s current research explores the various ways in which layers of history have to define the architecture of contemporary mosques in Bosnia-Herzegovina, at Stroom she will be showing Arizona Road (2002), her installation inspired by observations of Arizona Market, the largest black market in the Balkans, and a brand- new work, Contraption (2009).

Architect/researcher Sekuli shows parts of Belgrade, Belgrade: Ongoing Archive of Unruled Practices' a project mapping informal transformation processes in Belgrade.

Exhibition Acknowledgements: Mondriaan Stichting, Generali Foundation Wien, Stimuleringsfonds voor Architectuur, Foundation Design Den Haag 2010-2018.

International Istanbul Biennial

until Sunday 8 November 2009

Various locations throughout the city, Istanbul, Turkey

The 11th edition of Istanbul’s Art Biennial takes its title, What Keeps Mankind Alive? from the closing song of the second act of Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera, written 80 years ago and interpreted by many artists of various genres like Tom Waits, William S. Burroughs and Pet Shop Boys. For the Zagreb-based curators WHW (What, How & for Whom), the proposition will serve as a trigger, as well as a certain script for the exhibition, allowing visitor and the artists to pose questions of economic and social urgency today. The artist list includes Nevin Aladağ, Alimjan Jorobaev, Signs of Conflict: Political Posters of Lebanon’s Civil War (a project by Zeina Maasri), Hrair Sarkissian, Ruti Sela & Maayan Amir, and Oraib Toukan ao.

© Danica Dakic

Carlo Scarpa's Tomba Brion: Photographs by Guido Guidi, 1997 – 2007

until Sunday 10 January 2010

Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, Canada

A welcome revisit to a dual masterpiece, this exhibition is dedicated to Italian photographer Guido Guidi’s decade-spanning visual essay of Carlo Scarpa’s Tomba Brion in Italy. Capturing Scarpa’s notions of time, space and light in the Brion family mausoleum, Guidi was a long-time admirer of Scarpa’s work and thought. Here his 54 colour photographs reveal the detailed beauty of the funerary complex, echoing the poetic qualities of his subject and its ability shift perspective depending on the time of day, season and the observer’s viewpoint. 

 

Brion Family Tomb, San Vito d'Altivole © Guido Guidi

Design September Brussels 2009

until Friday 2 October 2009

Various locations, Brussels, Belgium

A festival that brings together 50 events and puts furniture, objects, industrial products, graphic design and architecture all under the spotlight. With a packed programme of exhibitions, conferences, private showings, film screenings, debates, visits to designers’ studios and more, along with championing Belgian players in the creative industries, the international event also sees Tom Dixon, FRONT design, Karim Rashid, Mathieu Lehanneur and BarberOsgerby taking part. Special projects include Visual Voltage, expressions of art and design from a Swedish perspective organised by Design Vlaanderen, and the Design Forum, which this year focuses on new challenges in packaging and examines European design competitions as a tool for creative and economic development.

© Gloji © Pentawards

10th Lyon Biennial

until Sunday 3 January 2010

Various locations throughout the city, Lyon, France

Taking place in several venues in Lyon city and its suburban areas, the Biennial will present works by about 60 international artists. Structured as a multi-dimensional system that reflects both intellectually and physically the event’s central thesis – the Spectacle of the Everyday –, there will be four chapters and a special section. These include The Magic of Things, or the reinvention of the everyday; Living Together, which turns the Lyon’s Museum of Contemporary Art into an open platform, and Veduta, where several artists will be invited to reside in the suburban areas with a large immigrant population and produce new, collaborative works.

Takahiro Iwasaki, Photo : Nozomi Tomoeda

Experimenta Design Lisbon

until Sunday 8 November 2009

Various locations, Lisbon, Portugal

Time is the theme of the 5th edition of this biennial of contemporary design, architecture and creativity. From the development of objects and devices that heighten the capacities of the human being to the mobility of information, the focus is on people and ideas. The extensive programme includes Quick, Quick, Slow, an exhibition that explores the dimension of time in graphic design; Timeless, an experimental showcase of new concepts and strategies addressing the motto ‘Less is More’; and Stop & Think, an editorial project that challenges leading magazines from across the world to place insightful criticism at the top of their agendas.

Exd’09/Lisboa, Pace of Design (Exhibition) Campanas studio © 2009 Experimentadesign / photo by Eva Engelbert

Peter Granser on tour

Read more for specific dates & locations
until Sunday 2 May 2010

The work of German photographer Peter Granser can be seen in various group and solo show in the coming few months.

Hidden Places, Kaune Sudendorf  - Gallery for Contemporary Photography, Cologne, Germany, from 5 Sep – 24 Oct.
Group exhibition with work of Katja Stuke, Oliver Sieber, Marina Gadonneix, Stefan Heyne, Greg Stimac, Jason Lazarus and of course, Peter Granser
www.ks-contemporary.com

Alzheimer, solo show at the Kunstzeughaus Rapperswil, Switzerland, from 18 Sep – 1 Nov
www.kunstzeughaus.ch

Germay and China – Together in Motion, Wuhan Museum of Art and The Art Museum of Hubei Academy of Fine Arts, China, from 20 Sep – 30 Oct.
Group exhibition of Chinese and German contemporary art, which includes Granser’s SIGNS project.
www.whmuseum.cn

From Memory, Dr. Guislain Museum, Ghent, Belgium, from 10 Oct – 2 May 2010.
Group show that deals with the fascination for memory in the worlds of art and science.
www.museumdrguislain.be

Gothenburg International Biennial For Contemporary Art

until Sunday 15 November 2009

Various locations throughout the city, Gothenburg, Sweden

Taking places for the fifth time, this Biennial for contemporary art will take place in locations such at the city’s Library, Museum of Art, Röda Sten and Gallery Box. Under the heading What a Wonderful World, the Biennial aims to present a generous, poetic and sensual portrayal of human diversity and the human capacity for wonders as well as failures through the gaze and works of contemporary artists. Participants are from Sweden and abroad, and include Jörgen Svensson, Love Enqvist, Fiona Tan, Candice Breitz and Kutlug Ataman. Parallel to the main programme, local galleries and art projects will also be hosting numerous satellite exhibitions.

Kafa (work in progress), 2009, Artist Amit Goren

Maison&Objet + Now! Design À Vivre

until Tuesday 8 September 2009

Paris Nord Villepinte, Paris, France

Now! design à vivre is the place to see the work of talented young designers at the September outing of MAISON&OBJET, which should be another good barometer to see how the design industry is responding to the current market climate. With various shows making up the event, attention for the trade is not only on decoration & objects for the home & contract sectors, but also design for outdoor spaces. The various events each have a creator of 2009, with MAISON&OBJET, MEUBLE PARIS, scènes d’intérieur and now! design à vivre respectively celebrating Karl Lagerfeld, François Azambourg, Vincent Van Duysen and Jean-Marie Massaud.

Manned CLoud 01 © Studio Massaud

Copenhagen Design Week

until Sunday 6 September 2009

Various locations, Copenhagen, Denmark

Directed by the Danish Design Centre, Copenhagen Design Week’s programme is a mix of tradeshows, exhibitions, experiences, discussions and networking. This year’s edition focuses on social and environmental design and innovation, with each element exploring in its own way the positive power of design. Highlights include CODE 09, a trade fair of Danish & international design with a special display of Nordic design; It’s a Small World, an exhibition that looks at the new craftmanship in Danish design, craft and architecture; the INDEX award, exhibition and talk Designing for Good – What do You Get Out It? and Next Vision Bright Green Fashion, a sustainable fashion show presenting 10 young designers from Berlin and Copenhagen.

Cabbage Chair, Designed by Nendo, Japan

Ghanavision

Flour Sacks Part II
until Saturday 19 September 2009

Bongout Gallery,  Torstrasse 110, Berlin

 

 

Half-naked women, gore and monsters have long been a formula for getting people to go to the cinema, and like some of its subject matter rising from the dead, Berlin's Bongout Gallery is resurrecting its exhibition of movie posters from Ghana.

Hand-painted pulp used to promote the country’s travelling cinemas (think man with a VCR, generator and car) since the 1980s, from big-budget Hollywood to debuts from African filmmakers, local artists would paint on old flour sacks that had been stitched together. It appears that seeing the movie was not so important for the people that made the posters, after all, why subject yourself to Bruce Willis when you have imagination and a film still.

Bongout is also publishing Ghanavision, an extended edition of last year’s Ghana Move Posters. Texts in German, English and French, the book documents the collections of Dr. W. Stäbler and Bongout.

 

Catwalks, Most Spectacular Fashion Shows

until Sunday 1 November 2009

NRW-Forum, Dusseldorf, Germany

That Marie Antoinette features in the birth of catwalks, shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, with this exhibition offering up ‘great’ fashion as a spectacle of theatrical self-portrayal and highly charged self-dramatisation. Catwalks will highlight a dozen of the most striking shows of the past 30 years: grand performances (Dior), the circus as a theatrical chamber of wonders (Galliano), dramatic performances (Alexander McQueen), or the catwalk as a table set for a celebratory dinner (Dries van Noten). Visitors can temporarily become catwalk models, as fashion shows are transformed into 3D by various video projections and multimedia installations.

Models in a snow storm by John Galliano, Summer/Winter 2010 © John Galliano

The New Silk Roads

until Sunday 10 January 2010

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León (MUSAC), León, Spain

This show features the ongoing urban research project of the urbanist, theorist and activist Kyong Park, carried out through different journeys along the intricate route between Istanbul and Tokyo. Examining the complex conditions and relations shaping the cultural, social and political territories throughout the Asian continent, Eurasia and the Middle East, this is what Park describes as The New Silk Roads. So far Park has carried out three expeditions, and he and his team of collaborators have visited and researched eight of the 20 countries that will involve the project, using the urban research method Park calls ‘nomadic practice’.

Beijing, 2007, From NSR Expedition 1 Courtesy of the artist

Jan De Cock - Repromotion

until Sunday 13 September 2009

Centre for Fine Arts (Bozar), Brussels, Belgium

An important figure on the new Belgian art scene, Jan De Cock presents a new project in Brussels. Having exhibited at the Tate Modern and the MoMA, this show features a series of sculptures and photographs specially conceived for one of the Bozar’s main exhibition spaces. Each room and stage is to be experienced like a sequence in an imaginary film, with De Cock sculpting the space and questioning the viewers’ perceptions by drawing on cinema, and playing with movement, repetition and reproduction. After Brussels, Repromotion will be reproduced, using photography, and shown at the Magasin de Grenoble in the first quarter of 2010.

Temps Mort XI.Flamingo, 2009 © Atelier Jan De Cock