Drückeberger cupboard and Pl(a)ywood cabinet will be shown at the NEW OLDS exhibition (ifa) at the Novosibirsk State Art Museum in Russia.
Staatliches Kunstmuseum Nowosibirsk
Novosibirsk, Russian Federation
09.02.2018 – 08.04.2018
Curated by Prof. Volker Albus
“Together with curator Volker Albus, the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e. V. (ifa) presents new olds. Design between Tradition and Innovation, with sixty exhibits that explore the relationship between tradition and innovation in contemporary design. The variety and topicality of the many approaches are bundled around the themes material, construction, configuration, production, and traditional use. Forty-five designers and design teams from Germany, other European countries and the USA enter here into an intensive dialogue, and the international nature of the show is further emphasised by its world tour with its connections to the local cultures on site.
Design has a short and highly successful history in the West. It quickly became a key feature of a collective understanding of culture, and is correspondingly appreciated and communicated. Outside the western hemisphere too design is gaining significance, and not just as a profession. What are seen as successful idioms are copied and varied, but many of the motifs that are sold as “new” actually derive from a historical context and formal idiom, and are self-contained products of one country or culture, representing a new interpretation of traditional forms. This exhibition looks at aspects of the “new” and the “old” in a range of objects and groups of objects, discusses differences and new combinations, presents trends in recycling and redesign, and looks at the transformation of design classics and traditional ways of using new materials.
This exhibition aims to show the international and complex nature of this discourse in contemporary design in three ways. Firstly, we invite the general public to enjoy the visual and sensual presentation of the exhibits. Secondly, the accompanying events and education programme will focus on dialogue in workshops that are tailored to each location of the exhibition tour, and the design experts working there. The third element is documentation of the exhibition in a blog, showing the work of local designers exploring issues related to new olds that is presented in the exhibition space or in a special additional show. Documenting all the works that are produced in accompanying events during the entire tour will further facilitate dialogue and the exchange of ideas on contemporary theory and design practice in a variety of nations and cultures.”