exhibition catalogue

MINDCRAFT is an exhibition showcasing some of Denmark's most talented designers and craftspeople. Each year a different curator is invited to demonstrate the qualities, potentials and versatility of new Danish design and craft. In 2014, Studiomama was invited to curate the show.

Under the title 'Materializing beliefs', we explored the link between artistic experimentation in a workshop setting and the contribution to the global discussion on the future of making, one in which the handmade will play a central role. 

Powerful and relevant works are created in artisan's workshops, where craftsmanship skills are maintained and developed through tens of thousands of hours of immersion in making – a process that contrasts with industrial global production that is becoming increasingly uniform, simplified and vulnerable to plagiarism. Craftsmanship is a topical response - and at the same time an important inspiration for innovation and development in industrial production.

Featuring new work from each of the 12 selected craftspeople, including a fragile bracelet woven from mechanical pencil lead, a delicate dust-collecting stool and a lamp shade that looks like a skirt that picked up by the wind, the exhibition showcased the unique energy of the craftspeople and works borne out of their special design skills, insights and material understanding. Powerful yet understated concrete and wooden plinths and simple signage allowed the exhibits take centre stage.

‘Here, it is recognized that craft can bring back physicality and texture to design, and add context and rootedness that will always enrich the results…If craft is the future of design, then design is also the future of craft,’ said Wallpaper* Editor at Large, Henrietta Thompson.

Mindcraft 2014 for Milan Furniture Fair