Everyday Life – Signs of Awareness

TALK SERIES VOL. 5 Christian Holmsted Olesen “Danish Design – an international idiom”

2017.9.22(Fri)

Information

Period:

2017.9.22(Fri)
*This lecture was suspended due to the lecturer’s personal reason.

Venue:

Lecture Hall / 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

Admission:

Free

For More Information:

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Phone: +81-76-220-2800
Facsimile: +81-76-220-2802
E-Mail: info@kanazawa21.jp

About

*This lecture was suspended due to the lecturer’s personal reason.

The series of talks will cover an interdisciplinary selection of topics across the fields of design, education, medical care and urban planning with a view to deepening the understanding of the exhibition.

Danish Design – an international idiom
1949 American journalists began to write about Danish Design. The American avant-garde wanted to return to the good old days – and this made the quality craft products from the old and not overly advanced agricultural nation, Denmark, quite popular. Danish Design became an international brand. But what characterizes Danish Design from the past and today?

The Danish designer Hans J. Wegner described the essence of Danish design as a purification process. By this he meant that designers were building on a long-standing tradition which they continually cultivated and refined. No other nation in the world has had a similar focus on studying older objects and developing them into contemporary objects. Forms from other cultures, especially Japanese culture, informed the development of what gradually became a highly cultivated design society, where every space and object, private as well as public, essentially shows the influence of virtues from tradition and crafts. Perhaps that is why Danish design is often said to be timeless or, at least, durable. It rests on a long-standing tradition.

Profile

  • Christian Holmsted Olesen (head of Exhibitions and Collections, Designmuseum Denmark)

    Christian Holmsted Olesen, b. 1970. Design historian, MA art history, german studies. Research area: 20th and 21st century design. Head of Exhibitions and Collections at Designmuseum Danmark. External examiner at Southern University of Denmark and The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Member of the advisory board at Southern University of Denmark. Author, latest book “Wegner – just one good chair” Strandberg Publishing/Hatje Cantz 2014. Curator, latest exhibition: The Danish Chair – An International Affair, Designmuseum Danmark.

Related Links

Credit

Organized by:
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Kanazawa Art Promotion and Development Foundation)