New Designer Items, Family Businesses, Iconic Products and Even a Floe in the Church: The 23rd Designblok presents its exhibitors
10. 9. 2021
The twenty-third edition of Designblok begins in less than a month. The main exhibition venues will be Gabriel Loci in Holečkova Street and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Old Town. This year over 200 Czech and foreign exhibitors participate in Designblok which will - after last year`s limitation of foreign guests - offer a rich international programme throughout Prague. The festival will take place from 6 to 10 October and the theme of this year is HAPPINESS.
In addition to the space of the former Beuron Convent Gabriel Loci, where visitors can look forward to the main exhibition Designerie and a total of 152 installations presenting designers and school studios in the Openstudio and manufacturers and brands in the Superstudio, this year's programme will be expanded by another exhibition building - the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, where the exhibition concept RENESANCE 21 will be prepared on two floors, presenting several curatorial projects. The first of these is Masters - a “picture gallery” of leading Czech manufacturers who, in addition to quality design, achieve mastery in the craftsmanship that characterizes their production. Among others, FESTKA will present its iconic products with the Scalatore bicycle in the Mummy decoration or BOMMA with its popular Phenomena lights. Brokis, Preciosa, Rückl, TON and others will also showcase their flagship products. The adjacent exhibition is called Family Silver and in cooperation with Forbes magazine, it will present companies that look after family treasure and know how - PETROF, Moser, Kaplan Nábytek, Tkalcovna Kubák, Vasky, Brokis, Křehký... The entire next floor will belong to a selection of designers who master the craft and hand-making production of their designs. 25 authors were selected, including glassmaker František Jungvirt, designer Jan Plecháč, textile and product designers IHOR, Bro who work with embroidery, jewellers Janja Prokić and Zdeněk Vacek and fashion designer Denisa Nová.
“After a difficult year in the pandemic, we wanted to show that it was time for a renaissance. A revival of the seemingly ordinary craftsmanship that connects the entire conceptual exhibition house Renaissance 21, for which the Museum of Decorative Arts has made two floors available to us. Visitors will find 47 exhibitions by top Czech designers and manufacturers who combine excellent design, craftsmanship, but also innovation and the use of the latest technologies in conjunction with a love of tradition,” says Jana Zielinski, Director of Designblok, describing the concept.
Superstudio in Gabriel Loci will offer new products from leading foreign and Czech manufacturers such as Janošík, TON, RAVAK, Laufen or USSPA. For this year's installation, Vitra has joined forces with students of the Photography 2 studio at UMPRUM and Master & Master with designers Lucie Koldová and Jakub Pollág. Traditionally, fashion and jewellery lovers will find their favourites at Openstudio. Unisex shoes PÁR, soft fashion by Naniche, minimalistic fashion by Daniela Pešková, leather accessories by PBG Studio; the installation #forsale by LUV will provide a tiny fashion subversive. Liběna Rochová, a legend of the Czech fashion scene, will celebrate her anniversary this year with two installations. Jewellery design is also very strong - Janja Prokić, Maria Kobelova, blueberries, Belda, Eliška Lhotská and others. Nastassia Aleinikava is preparing an unusual jewel in the form of glasses in collaboration with artist Patrik Kriššák. The young generation of glassmakers is represented by Anna Jožová and Vlastimil Šenkýř, furniture by Jiří Krejčiřík and children's toys KUTULU. The Designblok will also feature a number of premieres – it will be the first time for Space of Space with their metal furniture and accessories, for the sports brand KINOKO and for custom-blended perfumes by Scent Roche.
Young talents and future stars of the design scene will be brought to Designblok by the studios of Tomas Bata University in Zlín, the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art in Pilsen, J. E. Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem, Mendel University in Brno and Scholastika and UMPRUM in Prague.
The main venue of the accompanying programme will be the Reflex Stage, which will offer a series of lectures every day.
After last year's involuntary hiatus, Designblok will host its crucial show Diploma Selection in collaboration with EUNIC - fashion shows of European graduates will take place in the Sacre Coeur church, and an exhibition of product design of the best works of the past year and of this one will be on display in the refectory at Gabriel Loci.
There will be an exhibition space called Art House under the name Beautiful Floe. Designed by set designer Marek Cpin and curated by Jana Zielinski and Jiří Macek, more than a dozen contemporary Czech glass designers will be presented in the Church of the Annunciation at Gabriel Loci. The central and largest exhibit will be the Memento Mori chandelier by Maxim Velčovský for LASVIT, which will be pulled onto the original church pulley that LASVIT found in the depths of the church. On the floe itself will float works by Lukáš Novák, Dechem, Rony Plesl, Marieta Tedenac and many other artists.
Visitors can find Designblok installations all over Prague. Besides the main spaces, there will be, for example, the new BOMMA Atelier in the cubist Diamant House in the centre of Prague, the Podolí studio of designer Ondřej Stára or a brand-new showroom of the young watch brand Bohematic in Maiselova Street. The programme will also include a panel exhibition in Kampa from 1 October, which will highlight the best of this year's edition.
The 23rd edition of Designblok will take place from 6 to 10 October 2021. Tickets will be available on 16 September via GoOut.cz.
