Designed In Sweden

An exhibition of new furniture, glass, ceramics, metalware and textile design from Sweden held jointly at the Museum of London and the Museum in Docklands 20 September – 24 October 2004

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The exhibition will be inaugurated by Sir Terence Conran at the Museum of London on Wednesday, 22 September at 19.00.

Swedish designs, with their sleek, streamlined silhouettes and laid-back, laconic appeal, are some of the most dynamic expressions of talent today. Sculptural, sensual contours outlined in lustrous glass reflect the radiant light that baths the Swedish landscape in tints of dark purple, deep green and dusty ochre. The transparency of glass, a metaphor of the country’s crystalline waters, is foiled by the cloudy surfaces of crisp ceramics, which look as cool and untainted as the white snowfalls of winter. Chic furniture, crafted in weightless blond wood harvested from majestic forests, are dressed in warm, inviting textiles woven in rich, velvety colours. Designs like these express the optimism of youth culture and yet capture the understated elegance of the Swedish tradition; although the style was once regarded as subdued, the atmosphere surrounding Swedish design today is charged with the exhilarating intensity of a Bergman film.

Although nature, light and transparency have long been important inspirations for Swedish craftsmen, today’s designers are pioneering a fresh vision of what this legacy can mean. Ingegerd Råman, Sweden’s grande dame of glass, cuts and sandblasts spare motifs into her designs, injecting everyday forms with artistic verve and esoteric élan. Likewise, the surreal shapes created by Per B Sundberg charge studio glass with concepts more typically explored by the world of art. The laser-cut textiles designed by Lena Bergström were inspired by her ‘Slit’ glass collection for Orrefors, revealing a radical convergence between fabric and form as she redefines textiles and glass as a single medium.

The seductive shapes of contemporary metalware are designed with the same considerations an architect would have for building a timeless edifice, as designers such as Anders Ljungberg, Margot Barolo and Eva Schildt craft enduring pieces destined to become the artefacts of the future. Contemporary ceramics by Pia Törnell and Mia E Göransson marry ancient materials to modern design practice, transforming functional objects into beautiful tools for modern life. Furniture by Björn Dahlström, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Front, Thomas Bernstrand and Lars Pettersson captures the tension between movement and stillness, revealing that Swedish furniture is a tactile art that cradles and caresses the human form.

While Swedish design was once regarded as a gesture of simplicity, today it makes space for brilliant colours, rich textures and lavish motifs. Pia Wallén adorns her luxurious felt fabrics with classic icons that reinterpret the meaning of universal symbols. Graphic motifs, in the hands of Gabor Palotai, Björn Kusoffsky and Sara Hildén Bengtsson, come to life in three-dimensional forms and moving images that take graphic expressions far beyond the printed page.

Showcased in an exhibition that promises to be the most exciting presentation of Swedish design to date, new work from more than seventy designers will be shown in London for the first time. The exhibition is curated by Bradley Quinn and accompanied by Designed in Sweden, a book on contemporary Swedish design published by Arvinius Förlag in September 2004.

Locations

MUSEUM OF LONDON
London Wall
London EC2Y 5HN

MUSEUM IN DOCKLANDS
No1 Warehouse
West India Quay
London E14 4AL
www.museumindocklands.org.uk
open daily 10.00 to 6.00, Wednesday 10.00 to 8.00

Last modified: Wednesday, 1 September, 2004

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