Danish Crafts announces MINDCRAFT13 for Fuori Salone in Milan

MINDCRAFT13 - in the making
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The process of making is the theme of Danish Crafts’ new MINDCRAFT exhibition presented at Fuori Salone in Milan on 9-14 April 2013. MINDCRAFT13 is Danish Crafts’ sixth exhibition event in Milan.

With this year’s MINDCRAFT exhibition, the curator team, Kasper Salto and Thomas Sigsgaard, wants to show the key moments in the design process that lead to a finished work. The combination of professional craft competence and in-depth understanding of form and materials is coupled with storytelling and reflection.

It’s in the process
- With MINDCRAFT13 we wish to show the high level of quality in the finished works, but we also wish to shed light on the ideas and influences that lead to the works. We wish to illuminate the process and convey the interesting stories, say Salto & Sigsgaard.

Their ambition of providing more insight into the process is well in step with the general increase in interest from consumers and innovative manufacturers.

- There is a growing interest in quality craftsmanship and in gaining insight into the production process. For many of the craftspeople we have visited, the creative ideas emerge during the process through form experiments, material studies and the use of new technologies, Salto & Sigsgaard add.

Established platform for international attention
MINDCRAFT is the name of the recurring exhibitions that Danish Crafts has presented during the Milan design week for the past five years with the goal of showcasing Danish craft and design and bolstering Denmark’s strong position in the field of design.

- It can be difficult for individual craftspeople and designers to break through internationally. With MINDCRAFT as a shared platform we improve the chances of international success for the participating craftspeople and designers while also highlighting the strong competences in Danish craft and design to the benefit of the field as such, says Birgitte Jahn, director of Danish Crafts.

The persistent effort has led to growing awareness.

- We are building on the awareness that we have generated in recent years, both in Milan and around the world, and as usual we include both well-established and brand-new names in MINDCRAFT. In that way, the more established craftspeople and designers help pave the way for the young or those with less experience on the international scene, Birgitte Jahn adds.

MINDCRAFT combines the words MIND and CRAFT in reflection of the fact that the exhibited works represent both exquisite craftsmanship and a philosophical aspect in the form of a message or an opinion. This is evident, for example, in the work of the young Rasmus B. Fex, who sets a fresh, new agenda for the design field with his statement “Art with Function – Design without”. Another example is the more experienced Grethe Sørensen, who combines traditional textile skills with new technological possibilities in her work RUSH HOUR, which was woven on a digital loom.

The selected craftspeople and designers participating in MINDCRAFT13 are:

• Mathias Bengtsson, designer
• Katrine Borup, jewellery designer
• Nina Bruun, furniture designer
• Christina Schou Christensen, ceramist
• Rasmus Bækkel Fex, furniture designer
• Christian Flindt, furniture designer
• Lisbet Friis, textile designer & Uffe Black, furniture designer
• Michael Geertsen, ceramist
• Pernille Snedker Hansen, textile designer
• Astrid Krogh, textile designer
• Søren Ulrik Petersen, designer and cabinetmaker
• Eske Rex, designer
• Grethe Sørensen, textile designer
• Mette Saabye, jewellery designer

Curator team
In the designer duo Salto & Sigsgaard, Danish Crafts has a strong new team for selecting the participants for the sixth MINDCRAFT exhibition in Milan.

Salto & Sigsgaard are themselves experienced MINDCRAFT participants; they have successfully taken part in a couple of Danish Crafts’ previous MINDCRAFT exhibitions. Kasper Salto is a trained cabinetmaker and a design graduate from The Danish Design School. Among other work, he is known for his many furniture designs for Fritz Hansen, including the chairs Ice and NAP.

Thomas Sigsgaard graduated as an architect from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture and has worked for PLH Arkitekter and Vilhelm Lauritzen Arkitekter.

In June 2011, Salto & Sigsgaard won the competition to design new furniture for the renovation of the Trusteeship Council Chamber in the UN building in New York. The chamber was originally designed by the Danish architect Finn Juhl and is currently undergoing extensive renovation.

MINDCRAFT13: 9-14 April in Ventura Lambrate, 6 Via Ventura, 20134 Milan.
Press day: Wednesday the 10th of April. Meet the curators from 10.00-18.00.

For additional information, please contact
Kristian Kastoft, Head of Projects & Communications,
Danish Crafts, kastoft@danishcrafts.dk, tel. +45 4171 2040
www.mindcraftexhibition.com and www.facebook.com/mindcraftexhibition

Danish Crafts is a national information centre that aims to highlight, promote and increase turnover for
Danish craft and design in Denmark and abroad. Danish Crafts is an institution under the Danish Ministry of
Culture.

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