CHART 2019 | CHART Announces an Ambitious Design Programme for 2019

Focusing exclusively on unique contemporary works, limited edition pieces, and collectibles, CHART Design brings together established designers and emerging talents whose practices and originality contribute to the development of the Nordic design scene. Highlighting both internationally esteemed practitioners as well as local talents, CHART Design presents a unified entry point to the Nordic scene for collectible design.

CHART is the leading Nordic event for art, design, and architecture, taking place at two historical venues in the centre of Copenhagen: The Royal Academy of Fine Arts and Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art. Design has been an integrated part of CHART for several years and in 2018 CHART launched a design fair and a curated programme in its own right. This year CHART Design will focus exclusively on contemporary practices and strengthen the engagement with emerging talents across the Nordic scene.

"CHART Design's ambition is to create one entry point for collectible Nordic design. We have a strong design history across the Nordic countries and in recent years we have seen an extensive development within the field from a younger and increasingly cross-disciplinary generation. We want to stimulate this development by bringing together the different agents working within the field, ranging from gallerists and professionals over practicing artists, designers, and craft-makers to the collectors and the public." - Nanna Hjortenberg, Director of CHART

CHART Design and Studio

Den Frie, 30 Aug - 1 Sep 2019

CHART Curio: Matters

Design Museum Denmark, 28 Aug 2019 - 29 Mar 2020.

Press preview: 29 Aug 2019 at 16:00

THE LEADING NORDIC DESIGN GALLERIES

CHART Design Fair will present the leading Nordic design galleries that work with designers, artists, and craft-makers who push the boundaries and definitions of collectible design. The galleries will show the scene's diversity, ranging from textile pieces by Kuoshi Yamamoto (RAM Galleri), experimental ceramic works by Sigve Knutson (Galleri Format Oslo) to wooden socially critical furniture by Fredrik Paulsen (Etage Projects).

Exhibiting in unison across several historical rooms at Den Frie, CHART Design fair will present an assortment of practitioners who are currently at the forefront of the design scene, inventing and re- visiting local craft and design traditions as well as international themes.

The exhibiting galleries are:

Berg Gallery (SE)

Etage Projects (DK)

Galleri Format Oslo (NO)

Køppe Contemporary Objects (DK)

LOKAL (FI)

RAM Galleri (NO)

SIRIN Gallery (DK)

stockholmmodern (SE)

PRESENTING EMERGING DESIGN STUDIOS AND COLLECTIVES

For the first time, CHART has invited a select group of emerging studios or design collectives from the Nordic countries to present new unique works, many of which will be presented for the first time. The invited studios are pushing the boundaries between art and design and exhibit emerging talents from across the Nordic region.

Presented as a shared exhibition, the design studios present works from Finnish artist and furniture designer Milla Vaahtera's who makes delicate mobiles and glass works (UU Market) to new ceramic works by the cross-disciplinary Danish artist Cathrine Raben Davidsen, who works across painting, printing, and objects. The Swedish design studio, STOFT Studio, will exhibit story-driven design objects such as their Dear Disaster cabinets, where hundreds of movable wooden parts allow the user to leave their own imprint on the design object.

Among the exhibiting studios are:

UU Market (FI)

Crd Studio - Cathrine Raben Davidsen (DK)

Stoft Studio (SE)

Maria Bruun (DK)

Normal Object Factory (SE)

OH OAK (DK)

Designkollektivet (DK)

Sisse Lee (DK/NO)

Nick Ross (UK/SE)

INVESTIGATING THE MATERIAL OF THE FUTURE

Matters - Rethinking Materials is a curated exhibition aimed at presenting young design talents in a non-commercial context. The exhibition is part of CHART's Curio initiative and will this year be developed in close collaboration with Designmuseum Danmark where the exhibition will be presented in newly built vitrines in front of the museum. Matters consists of five young designers who showcase a visionary approach to rethinking how materials, ranging from the synthetic to the organic, can shape new conceptual ideas for a more sustainable design future.

"Matters explores new and uncharted perspectives on materials that are often considered useless by humans by challenging both its synthetic and organic ecosystems. A conceptual crossing of the show connects two precise points: the arrival point where the recent world of material turns to debris, urging a renewal of characteristics and the departure point where the ancient world of natural substances is considered as new material components. The exhibited works question how environment and natural phenomena can affect the design process while also examining immaterial dimensions such as time. This is done in a humble search and celebration of nature as a fundamental inspiration." - Line Ulrika Christiansen, curator of Matters

Among the exhibited designers is Finnish cabinetmaker and designer Antrei Hartikaninen, named Young Designer of the Year 2018 by Design Forum Finland, whose practice is centered around wood and explores the boundaries between art and utility. Also exhibiting is Danish designer Kathrine Barbro Bendixen, who works progressively with innovating the use of materials, mixing the sustainable with the human-made. The full list of designers will be announced shortly.

Matters is curated by Line Ulrika Christiansen, Institute Head at Domus Academy Milano, in collaboration with Pernille Stockmarr, curator at Design Museum Denmark. Matters is presented at Designmuseum Danmark's newly erected exhibition vitrines in front of the museum.

CHART Curio is an initiative that seeks to advance talented young designers in the contemporary design scene. It is an integrated part of CHART's talent programme that also consists of Emerging, a curated exhibition of young artists, as well as an architectural competition whereby finalists build a temporary pavilion for newly graduated architects.

Matters - Rethinking Materials can be experienced from 28 Aug 2019 - 29 Mar 2020.

SHARING KNOWLEDGE IN SOCIAL SETTINGS

Exploring the field of collectible design, a series of talks will bring together professionals and practitioners in conversations that explore the crossovers between art and design whilst also addressing the role of Nordic material and craft heritage in a new context.

Set in a social space between the Design Fair and the Studio presentations, the talks will discuss issues concerning the performativity of design, past and future materials and methods, and nurturing and collecting design. The speakers are selected from across the field from professional profiles such as Suvi Saloniemi, curator at Helsinki Design Museum, and gallerist Irija Øwre (Galleri Format Oslo) to practitioners such as ceramist Sigve Kuntson, Danish art and design duo Frederik Nystrup- Larsen and Oliver Sundqvist, and Danish artist FOS, who will give an open lecture on why design matters.

The design talks programme is co-developed and moderated by Johanna Agerman Ross, founder and director of the design journal Disegno and Curator of Twentieth Century and Contemporary Furniture and Product Design at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

BACKGROUND

CHART Design is an integral part of CHART, a three-day event celebrating artistic practises in the Nordic region. CHART Design was established in 2018 as an independent venue and an ambitious platform dedicated to collectible design in the Nordics.

CHART Design takes up home at Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art in Copenhagen. Inhabiting these historical halls, it unfolds as an exemplary display of Nordic contemporary design with a strong focus on collectible pieces. Den Frie was drawn by architect, artist, and ceramicist J.F Willumsen, who established the venue with an ethos that regarded fine arts and design as equals and treated the disciplines as companions. Leaning on this philosophy, CHART Design wants to further a tradition of art and design as partners in aesthetic value.