The exhibition ‘Silent Revolution’ by Museum of Architecture and Design Slovenia was one of the most interesting events on this year’s Dutch Design Week. Our side of Europe hasn’t really represented itself on this quite important design festival. Most of the participants are still Dutch designers (both big companies, as Philips or Piet Hein Eek and newly graduates), but time to time the visitor may bump into ‘foreigners’, like the Soft Edge stand by graduates of the London Royal College of Art or the Made Out Portugal stand.
Silent Revolution presents a quality selection of design products from Slovenia, this relatively young country which has only gained its independence in 1991. This step forced Slovenia to get involved in the free-market economy which required fast and wise actions from the designers. The title of the project refers to this idea. The ‘silence‘ implies to the country’s muteness in the scene of design although its revolutionary ideas and ground-breaking innovations creating solid background for companies world-wide (think about the Akrapovic exhaust system for Kawasaki motors).
The curator, Maja Vardjan has chosen the objects consciously. On one hand there are retro products from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s which are somehow showing the legacy of Slovene design nowadays. On the other hand, you can see well-known products from famous designers, like Nika Zupanc or Gorenje Design Studio (Gorenje is the largest home appliance manufacturer in Slovenia). Besides these, urban projects and leisure objects are also on display. Sitty Folding Chair (by Gigodesign) was meant to solve problems of crowded cities, while Ski Boots (by Jure Miklavc, Jan Jagodic and Robert Kriznar) and WaveFlex Ski Series (by Gigodesign) are practical tools for the Slovene national sport, skiing.
All in all, I warmly recommend MAO’s exhibition on the DDW. It takes place in Zone Ventosa, in the WitteDame Area and will be on display till this Sunday. After the London Design Festival it hits the public again, congratulations to the crew!
Photos by B. van der Veer
furniture hire
October 26, 2011
Love the look of the phone, very retro. Are these for sale anywhere.