Home living culture from Germany
The Goethe- Institut Colombo (German Cultural Centre) in
collaboration with the University of the Visual and Performing Arts, the
Academy of Design and the Moratuwa University are proud to present a
major design exhibition ‘Conscious, simple- consciously simple: The
Emergence of an Alternative Product Culture’ a design exhibition at
J.D.A. Perera Gallery from February 10 to March 2.
The biggest exhibition of design ever to be held in Sri Lanka, this
German exhibition has been traveling in 29 cities all over the world.
The newly opened Gallery of the University of Visual and Performing
Arts will host a selection of 65 objects and a total of 122 exhibits by
35 German designers and designer groups which focuses on pieces of
furniture, luminaries and home accessories. This New German design
reveals the various trends and strategies with their different emphases
on the aspect of the conscious and the simple.
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Some of the exhibits at ‘Conscious, simple- consciously simple:
The Emergence of an Alternative Product Culture’ |
Along with the selection of German design products the organizers and
exhibition partners plan to jointly exhibit a selection of Sri Lankan
objects of contemporary and indigenous design, made by young designers
and students of design.
This exhibition from Germany has already attracted more than 300,000
visitors and will be in Colombo for the first time! This is a unique
opportunity for all those interested in design as well as the public to
view inspiring cutting edge design options for enhancing our environment
Along with the selection of German design products the organizers and
exhibition partners plan to jointly exhibit a selection of Sri Lankan
objects of contemporary and indigenous design, made by young designers
and students of design.
In this three storied state- of –the- art Gallery you can experience
the different strands of fundamentally different design approaches which
have impacted on furniture and object design.
Their common subject has been the piece of furniture that is
conceived, produced and handled in a consciously simple way. In this
exhibition furniture is not only shown as a functional product but
becomes a topic of aesthetic thought and design.
The objects chosen do not stand out for their luxurious materials or
complicated and costly production processes, but for their robust
materiality, plain configuration, simple and practical handling as well
as comparatively low prices, not withstanding some humor.
The demand for simplicity of materials and production processes also
leads into a new design consideration, i.e. ecological quality which,
however, is not the primary aim for selection. Rather, designers try to
create designs that also convey sensory pleasure.
In this exhibition design trends follow the traditions of typical
home-living culture, with some objects referring to the functional
furniture of Modernism, e.g. of the Bauhaus.
Yet from the start, the new German design has extended the notion of
functionality to include narrative and emotional moments, the principles
of ‘objets trouvés’ as well as the recycling of materials and set pieces
as essential design factors.
The exhibition catalogue is a work of Art in itself. It won the
promotion prize for ‘The most beautiful German books 1998’ held by the
Stiftung Buchkunst (German Book Art Foundation.
The designers also won a distinction for the exhibition poster
design.
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