22/11 2023–14/1 2024
Form/Design Center, Malmö

The exhibition Round Here was first shown at Designarkivet in the summer of 2023. Now the exhibition moves on to Form/Design Center in Malmö!

Round Here is about the many different craft and design histories found in Småland, a place that many of us have come to know through successful glass and furniture industries. Historically, very little design history has been written from Småland, despite the fact that many design objects have been produced there. Instead, design history has been formulated and decided by the institutions, museums, and universities of the big cities, which often share a traditional perspective with a focus on the products and the individual designer. Through such an approach, other stories are at risk of disappearing from the historiography.

Round Here presents many different histories from a specific place. These are stories that today can be found in local heritage museums, in civil society, museums, and local historical networks. Together, in the exhibition, we write a craft and design history with the whole of Småland – a diverse story about different everyday lives, about material skills and crafts, and about life in the villages. Round Here is about design and craft that are not tied to purchasing power, products, and abstract perceptions of beauty and ugliness.

The exhibition is produced by Designarkivet and summarises the three-year development project (Re-)Learning the Archive. The project has developed and tested a method for how we can expand the design history writing through an inclusive, listening, and learning practice.

Participants

Magnus Bärtås & Behzad Khosravi Noori, Annika Elmqvist, Makda Embaie, Frantzwagner Sällskapet, Hönsalottas Luffarmuseum, Kalmar Läns Hemslöjd, MADAM snickeri och restaurering, Evelina Mohei, Tuomo Nieminen, Ann Rydh, Studio Goja, Rosa Tolnov Clausen & Daniele Burlando

Opening and seminar 21/11

16.30–18.00: The seminar “Småland and Malmö – about working with a place”
Traditionally, design practice has been defined as placeless, but today we see a shift towards a design that seeks to act in a place, in processes, in society together with those who act here. The seminar, which is held in English, will be held by Åsa Ståhl, lecturer in design at Linnaeus University, Finn Williams, city architect in Malmö, and Christina Zetterlund, project manager for (Re-)learning the Archive and curator for Round Here. Based on different places and experiences, they show examples of how we can work together with a place.

Please note that registration is required!

18.00–20.00: Opening with talks
The seminar is followed by the opening of the exhibition, where Christina Zetterlund presents the exhibition and talks with Jon Pettersson about the Frantzwagner Society’s work in writing the cultural history of travelers, and Bettina Pehrsson who talks about the Design Archive in Nybro.

Read more about the evening and how to register at Form/Design Center.