Strong Field of Danish Designers Headed to Milan

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PRESS RELEASE

Strong field of Danish designers headed to Milan

Together with exhibition curator DitteHammerstrøm, 17 of Denmark’s leading makers and designers head to Milan in April to present new works created especially for the Danish Arts Foundation’s MINDCRAFT exhibition. The exhibition is presented at the Milan Design Week, one of the world’s most significant design platforms.

Every year more than 300,000 design enthusiasts from all over the world head to Italy to experience the latest in design and crafts at the Milan Design Week. The Danish field of crafts and design is prominently represented with the MINDCRAFT exhibition, a major design initiative by the Danish Arts Foundation. Since its debut in Milan in 2008, MINDCRAFT has established itself as a highly sought-after international exhibition platform for Danish practitioners.

Furniture designer with a broad outlook

The Danish Arts Foundation invited furniture designer DitteHammerstrøm to be this year’s curator and exhibition designer. She in turn selected 17 participants among Denmark’s leading craft makers and designers, who were given the opportunity to present new bespoke works to the international audience at one of the world’s most important design events.

Curator DitteHammerstrøm says about her selection:

‘The Danish crafts and design scene is very strong right now. The participants I have selected are among the very best in their field and able to produce site-specific works for the exhibition venue. They all employ an experimental process and take a unique approach to their materials. As a group, they represent the high level of diversity, innovation and quality that characterizes Danish crafts and design right now.’

A strong team with a diverse expression

Spanning from ceramics, glass and jewellery to textile and furniture design, the participants represent a diverse range of disciplines and approaches to materials, process and form.

This year’s MINDCRAFT participants are:

Anja VangKragh, Pettersen & Hein (Lea Hein, Magnus Pettersen), Petra Dalström, Kevin Hviid, Kasper Kjeldgaard, Maria Koshenkova, Louise Campbell, Katrine Borup, IbenHøj, Isabel Berglund

Carl Emil Jacobsen, Gitte Jungersen, CecilieBendixen, Rasmus Fenhann, Wednesday Architecture (Sofie Trier Mørk, Lise Bjerre Schmidt).

The careful mix of established and new talents represents the qualities that characterize contemporary Danish craft and design with an emphasis on knowledge of materials, craftsmanship, new methods and an experimental approach.

Time and place

MINDCRAFT18 is on display from 17 through 22 April in central Milan during the design week. Again this year, the historical San Simpliciano cloister forms the setting for the exhibition, as it did in 2015 and 2017.

Address: San Simpliciano, Piazza Paolo VI 6, 20121 Milan

Opening hours:

Monday, 16 April, press showing at 15.00–19.00

Tuesday: 11.00–23.00, Wednesday–Saturday: 11.00–20.00, Sunday: 11.00–17.00

About MINDCRAFT

MINDCRAFT is an internationally recognized and award-winning exhibition concept with varying participants and external curators that presents the best of Danish crafts and design at the world’s leading design event, the annual Milan Design Week.

The MINDCRAFT exhibition premiered in 2008, and over the years it has become a well-established and prestigious international platform for Danish craft and design.

The purpose of MINDCRAFT is to profile Danish craft and design to national and international opinion leaders, press outlets, manufacturers and other professionals in the field. Many of the participants who have exhibited at MINDCRAFT have subsequently been spotted by leading manufacturers and had their MINDCRAFT exhibit put into production. Among these manufacturers are the Italian designer Nemo Cassina as well as several Danish firms, including Fredericia Furniture, HAY, Muuto, Menu, Skagerak and Gubi. Other exhibitors have sold works to private collectors or established new collaborations with respected galleries around the world, including New York, London and Paris.

MINDCRAFT belongs under the Danish Arts Foundation’s Committee for Crafts and Design Project Funding. The exhibitions are organized by the Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces.