This year’s MINDCRAFT exhibition at the Milan Fair was created and curated by Danish Stine Gam and her Italian partner Enrico Fratesi – better known as GamFratesi. The venue was mindblowing, as the designers had laid out a massive floor of glass in the old cloister Chiostro Minore di San Simpliciano – a spectacular historical venue in Brera in the centre of Milan.
The idea was to explore the span between experimenting, innovative and conceptual design and sublime artistic and technical proficiency in Danish craft and design. I visited the exhibition in the blue hour – late wednesday evening where the atmosphere was just magical and nearly empty of visistors.
We chose the theme “In Between” because it reflects the fact that Danish craftspeople and designers work in a field of tension in between mind and craft. This exhibition covers the full range of that span, including fully developed ideas, conceptual qualities and sublime artistic and technical accomplishments, coupled with a unique understanding of the materials,’ say Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi.
Photos by: MINDCRAFT
The exhibition featured fourteen new works by nineteen of Denmark’s leading designers and craftspeople. The selected designers and craftspeople in MINDCRAFT15 were:
The Castaway by Ben and Sebastian, photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen
Solid Table by Cecilie Manz, photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen
Terroir by Edvard Steenfatt, photo by Rasmus Koch
Open 1, 2 and 3, by Louise Campbell, photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen
Pedestal by Halstrøm og Odgaard, photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen
Inside out, by Rosa Tolnov Clausen, photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen
Basic Bar, by Ole Jensen, photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen
Eiffel by Jørgensen og Depping, photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen
Tram by Akiko Kuwahata, photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen
Fontanella by Claydies, photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen
Dish between Earth and Sky, by Tora Urup, photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen
Selfie by Eske Rex, photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen
Umspiral by Henrik Vibskov, photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen
Point of View by Jacob Wagner, photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen
The exhibition won the prestigious Milan Design Award last night and it will come to Denmark later this year, I was told by Enrico and Stine – watch out for that.
Text by Katrine Martensen-Larsen
