Contemporary Craft Art 2002

During the past few years, Craft Art has made significant advances in the world of design and fascination with handicraft as an artistic form of its own has shown itself to be noteworthy at international fashion gatherings. In an era of mass production in which globalization is maneuvering our artistic xpressions towards greater and greater standardi-zation, people are searching nergetically for individual articulation, for the unique specimen, for unmistakably personal expressions. The exhibition Contemporary Craft Art 2002, to be shown at the Stockholm Furniture Fair in Hall B, will be held in the borderland between what is traditio-nally considered Art and what we call Craft Art. The exhibit will be showing the work of 15 artists with unique objects of glass, ceramics and textile materials.

Inger Molin, who has run her Galleri IngerMolin in the Östermalm district of Stockholm since 1998, is responsible for the choice of products on display. She has been trained in textile design and worked for ten years as a manager at blås&knåda, a renowned gallery for ceramics and glass in Stockholm - When I opened my own gallery, I realized how tired I was of the constant battle over boundaries between art and craft," says Inger Molin.
"I feel that the antagonism which exists between these terms depends to a great extent upon an alleged romanticism regarding materials used in craft
art. It is a common belief that central to handicraft is the particular material used. But for me, and many other artisans alike, this is completely uninteresting. The essential thing is quality and expressiveness and if something is being said, something important. This is done with the help of clay, oil paints, glass, metal, acrylic, textiles or paper - it's not any stranger than that. This exhibition will be showing works of what I consider to be some of the most outs-tanding contemporary artists in their areas.

I have chosen to call this show within the show Contemporary Craft Art 2002.

What is it that really characterizes
Nordic design? That is one of the most common questions we scandinavians are faced with when we meet colleagues from abroad. And it is often followed by: What is the difference between design created in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway or Sweden? The Stockholm Furniture Fair has taken these two questions as a starting point for an in-depth study of the subject Nordic Design. 25 different products from the five Nordic countries will be presented in the entrance lobby in an exhibit entitled “5x5”. Initial preparations have been made by Denmark’s Design Center, Design Forum Finland, Form Iceland, NorwegianForm and Swedish Society of Crafts and Design.

Olle Andersson, newly elected president of IFL (International Federation of nterior Architects/Designers) has made the final choice of products to be put on display. Mr. Andersson is chairman of White Design in Gothenburg and part-ner in White Arkitekter, one of the largest architectural offices in Europe. He is rofessor in Interior Architecture at the Art Academy in Oslo and has also served as professor in the same subject at HDK, the Department of Design and Craft, Gothenburg University.