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DesignMarch 2018: Iceland's Design Festival Celebrates its 10th Anniversary

By Aart van Bezooijen - March 23, 2018

30,000 Feet
Iceland Air is one of the main sponsors of DesignMarch. During our flight we enjoy this video inviting us to the biggest design festival in the world.*

(* per capita)
Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 1 of 68

Landscape A look at the amazing landscape during one of our first bus rides from the airport. Photo by Paula Raché 2 of 68

Illikambur Hanna Whitehead and Hilda Gunnarsdottir present their latest collection together at Gallery Harbinger. Their project brings together a ceramic jewelry and a fashion collection for the label Milla Snorrason. The color scheme and mineral patterns of their work are inspired by Illikambur, a rocky area located in the east of Iceland. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 3 of 68

1+1+1 + SWEET SALONE 1+1+1 is an experimental project format by three Nordic studios: Hugdetta from Iceland, Petra Lilja from Sweden and Aalto+Aalto from Finland. This year, they worked with the SWEET SALONE label that supports the local crafts industry in Sierra Leone. The lamps with a ceramic and wooden base match well with the handwoven shades by local basket-weavers (see online magazine). Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 5 of 68

Harpa Reykjavik The DesignTalks traditionally take place at the Harpa Reykjavik concert hall. During the lunch break visitors enjoy the amazing views from the multifaceted facade designed by studio Olafur Eliasson in collaboration with Henning Larsen Architects. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 7 of 68

DesignTalks Getting ready with good coffee for the DesignTalks. We particularly enjoyed the research oriented talks by Daisy Ginsberg presenting her research on better futures asking: "What is better? Whose better? And who gets to decide?" - and Kaave Pour's from Space10 in Copenhagen who demonstrates how playful a research approach can actually be. Photo by Paula Raché 8 of 68

Power and Potential
This year's DesignTalks has a clear motto: Power and Potential. With a series of talks, young designers demonstrate that designing means more than making stuff and can be used as powerful tool to improve the quality of life and work in our society. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 9 of 68

Bea Szenfeld During the DesignTalks she reveals the hands-on work behind the paper-based fashion and large theatre installations. It was nice to see that Icelandic singer Björk has already worn her work 8 years ago (see Björk's outfit at the Polar Music Prize 2010). Photo by Paula Rache 10 of 68

Bea Szenfeld These costumes are by Stockholm-based fashion designer Bea Szenfeld. During the DesignTalks she reveals the hands-on work behind the paper-based fashion and large theatre installations. It was nice to see that Icelandic singer Björk has already worn her work 8 years ago (see Björk's outfit at the Polar Music Prize 2010). Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 11 of 68

Arctic Design Group The Arctic Design Group is a research platform focused on developing design strategies for buildings, cities and landscapes in extreme environments. US-based founders Leena Cho and Matthew Jull from the UVA School of Architecture share some of their research findings and student projects dealing with a rapidly changing Arctic region. Photo by Paula Raché 12 of 68

Henrik Vibskov Danish fashion designer Henrik Vibskov shares a few personal fashion stories during the DesignTalks. Parallel he lights up the greyish Harpa building with a yellow blowup installation that goes by the name Yellow Salami. If you're hungry for more then check his last year's fashion show in Paris: Salami Kitchen of the Nonexistent. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 13 of 68

DesignMarch Opening Thursday evening, the design festival opens at the Hafnarhus Reykjavic Art Museum. Hundreds of guests, including the Icelandic musician Björk we heard, are joined together for three days of exhibitions, openings and presentations. Photo by Paula Raché 14 of 68

Aluminum Recycled At the Reykjavik Art Museum Hafnarhus the metal casting foundry Hella presents its collaborative project with four Icelandic designers: Studio Portland, Olga Osk Ellertsdottir, Ingibjörg Hanna and Sigga Heimis. By gathering, compressing, melting and casting used tea-light candle holders into everyday items, the project raises awareness for reuse and a more circular economy (see video). Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 15 of 68

Making stuff in prison This is an overview of products made in the prison of Litla Hraun located on the South coast of Iceland. This design project is not so much about making fancy products but focuses on giving the participating individuals a tool to adjust to society. Designer Bui Bjartmar Adalsteinsson brings together the development of workshop skills with creating a sense of pride and accomplishment for the participants. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 17 of 68

Jump on the festival bus! Most of DesignMarch projects are exhibited in downtown Reykjavik which makes it possible to visit almost all exhibitions by feet. This year, there is even a DesignBus that takes us a bit further with Reykjavik's major discussing the local architecture, design and the radical change, exposed by the many construction sites, the city is going through.
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Inspired by Aalto The exhibition "Inspired by Aalto: Sustainability as an attitude" is part of the 50-year-anniversary of the Nordic House, a building that is actually designed by Alvar Aalto himself. The exhibition is curated by Artek's former art director Ben af Schulten and gives a broad overview of Aalto's furniture pieces. The exhibition just opened and will last until September 2018, you can read more about the program of events on www.nordichouse.is Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 20 of 68

Weaving Kiosk The Weaving Kiosk is a popup workshop that offers materials and weaving tools so visitors can make textile items themselves. Swedish designers Rosa Tolnov Clausen and Merja Hannele Ulvinen are helping visitors to get started with the loom and demonstrate a few product ideas such as hand-woven backpacks or adding an extra pocket to your jacket. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 21 of 68

Katariina Guthwert At the Nordic House, Finnish artist Katariina Guthwert presents a collection of experimental ceramic drawings inspired by Iceland's hot springs. The hot spring pictures come from tourist's Instagram accounts and are made by combining digital printing with experimental glazing of local materials such as lava. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 22 of 68

Forms of Life is an exhibition curated by Thomas Pausz in collaboration with the Nordic House. In response to the Inspired by Aalto exhibition, student projects from the Iceland Academy of the Arts are combining artifacts, video works and a series of live experiences. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 23 of 68

Forms of Life Forms of Life is an exhibition curated by Thomas Pausz in collaboration with the Nordic House. In response to the Inspired by Aalto exhibition, student projects from the Iceland Academy of the Arts are combining artifacts, video works and a series of live experiences. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 24 of 68

Forms of Life
The exhibition is documented with a set of playing cards that offer visitors brief information and a hyperlink to the online project documentations. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 25 of 68

Intimate Futures Design students from the Iceland Academy of the Arts researched a society where horses and people have a closer and intimate relationship with each other. Their Intimate Futures research led to a series of inspiring products such as this interactive brush that can be used to stimulate the skin of both horses and people. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 26 of 68

Hildur Yeoman
Hildur Yeoman's new fashion collection is inspired by the goddess Venus. The collection is presented at the Yeoman boutique with a live performance by Kristin Anna, a multi-instrumentalist from Iceland. A sunny day and cold drinks transforms the usual window shopping into a musical performance. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 27 of 68

Hildur Yeoman Hildur Yeoman's new fashion collection is inspired by the goddess Venus. The collection is presented at the Yeoman boutique with a live performance by Kristin Anna, a multi-instrumentalist from Iceland. A sunny day and cold drinks transforms the usual window shopping into a musical performance. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 28 of 68

Catch of the Day Catch of the day is a project by Icelandic designer Björn Steinar Blumenstein. With an open-source distilling machine to turn food materials such as overdue fruit or vegetables into vodka. Not surprisingly, Björn has been dumpster diving himself for years and hopes to start a much-needed dialogue on food waste. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 29 of 68

Forest Utility
Even though forests cover only one percent of Iceland, reforestation projects since the 1950s are slowly making wood materials available as a resource. Right now, 80% of the annual wood production is sold as wood chips to smelters. Icelandic designer Björn Steinar Blumenstein invites a group of fellow designers to demonstrate news ways of using wood as resource. There is an interesting interview about this project in the latest HA magazine. Photo by Björn Steinar Blumenstein 30 of 68

Wave Ring Genki Instruments spent three years working with technology in close dialogue with musicians to create Wave, a ring-based MIDI controller. This ring allows musicians to control sound, change effects and send commands with the motion of their hands. The project is presented in collaboration with the music festival Sonar Reykjavik. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 31 of 68

Marshall House A nighttime view at the newly renovated Marshall house from the Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 32 of 68

Marshall House After years of emptiness, the Marshall House has been renovated into Reykjavik's newest art centre. Steinthor Kari Karason from the Kurt Og Pi architecture office guides us through the building for a closer look at its the architectural details and a walk through the new exhibition space of studio Olafur Eliasson who recently joined the building. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 33 of 68

Olafur Eliasson Light sculpture and seeing plants installation at the showroom of studio Olafur Eliasson in the newly renovated Marshall house.
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Olafur Eliasson Polyhedron light sculpture at the showroom of studio Olafur Eliasson in the newly renovated Marshall house. Photo by Paula Raché 35 of 68

Studio Trippin Fresh graduates from the Icelandic Academy of the Arts are presenting products that are made of horse hides. Horse hides are currently a waste-product from the Icelandic meat industry. It should be noted that Icelandic horses are not subjected to factory farming as many other animals are. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 36 of 68

Blue Fashion Challenge August 2017, 10 Nordic designers competed in the Blue Fashion Challenge in the Faroe Islands. They were encouraged to create designs from marine biomaterials including fish skin, seal skin and a jersey material made partly from seaweed. The exhibition will continue to Sweden and Italy. We were inspired by the new seaweed-based fabrics but whether sealskin should be made fashionable, might be questionable in our opinion.
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Anita Hirlekar We spotted Anita Hirlekar, a Central Saint Martins fashion design graduate, earlier when she presented a collection of unique hand-stitched textiles. She continues to make her own fabrics and just launched a new collection with vibrant colors and abstract patterns at the A.M. Concept Space. We recommend taking a look at her brand new website at www.anita-hirlekar.com Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 38 of 68

Anita Hirlekar
We spotted Anita Hirlekar, a Central Saint Martins fashion design graduate, earlier when she presented a collection of unique hand-stitched textiles. She continues to make her own fabrics and just launched a new collection with vibrant colors and abstract patterns at the A.M. Concept Space. We recommend taking a look at her brand new website at www.anita-hirlekar.com Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 39 of 68

Reykjavik Downtown Typical Icelandic houses, small but colorful.
Photo by Paula Raché 40 of 68

In Vasion A set of stickers with different patterns can be used to transform any kind of interior into a colorful and graphic (cyber)space. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 41 of 68

Aurum SAND is then name of the latest jewelry collection presented at the jewelry store Aurum by goldsmith Gudbjörg Kristin Ingvarsdottir. The collection is inspired by nature and wonderfully hidden within twigs of seaweed. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 42 of 68

Studio Frae These printed items have been designed by Studio Frae, two graduates from the Iceland Academy of the Arts. Their so called "twinkletwinkle" collection are inspired by the Icelandic rocks, stones and minerals. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 43 of 68

AD Connects AD Connects is a new label for old materials. Their goal is to revive textile stock material which are unused or overlooked, such as these pullovers made of English wool leftovers. The relative small amounts of textile materials are processed in Reykjavik's knitting factory, making each collection a purposeful and limited edition. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 44 of 68

Popup Shop We spotted these mugs at one of the design popup shops, a design that fits with a country enjoys natural hot pools in almost every town. Photo by Paula Raché 45 of 68

Icelandic Lamb An exhibition on the use of lamb wool demonstrates the diversity and endless application potential of this material. The hand tufted rug "Lava Fall" is made by textile artists Sigrun Lara Shanko. The "Baby Seal" is by Vik Prjonsdottir, a design label with a one of the most exciting woolen products we discovered so far. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 46 of 68

Pyropet Collection The inescapable unicorn trend has also reached Iceland. The Pyropet candle portfolio now has Einar the unicorn and is presented by the 54 Celsius design brand. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 47 of 68

EPAL The EPAL design store presents the surprising success of Icelandic design - surprising due to the size of its economy and how young the industry is in Iceland. A good example are these colorful "Notknot" pillows which have been in production for a year and a half and have already been sold over a 40,000 times worldwide. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 48 of 68

Chuck Mack At the EPAL design store we meet with Chuck Mack, an American/Icelandic designer and skilled carpenter living and working in Reykjavik. We enjoy the natural woodwork and authentic design of the Arco Desk manufactured by Design House Stockholm. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 49 of 68

Ragna Ragnarsdottir These candle holders are part of a product series by designer maker Ragna Ragnarsdottir. She developed a low-tech process which allows her to control the unique appearance of each product. All items are formed and manufactured in her own studio.
Photo by Paula Raché 50 of 68

Hring Eftir Hring Hring Eftir Hring is a jewelry design studio. Their latest collection GUDRUN is all about up-cycling jewelry pieces which are no longer in use. Old jewelry pieces from friends, family, recycling facilities and the Red cross organization are taken apart and carefully combined into new ones. If you have unused jewelry in your drawers, feel free to contact them at www.hring.is Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 51 of 68

Malmö Upcycling Service At the Swedish consulate, the Malmö Upcycling Service present their latest collection of decorative home objects which is based on a selection of waste materials, collected from six different industries in the south of Sweden. Their collection is made to change the perception of waste and create awareness for a more circular economy. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 52 of 68

Made by Choice Made by Choice, a design house from Finland, invited Icelandic designer Katrin Olina to design a new furniture line made of cork and wood. For the Finnish woodworkers, cork is a new material in their portfolio. The sound absorbing acoustic qualities make this the perfect material to transmit the roaring silence known from the wilderness in the Nordic countries. Photo by Mikko Ryhänen 54 of 68

Dyslextwhere Dyslextwhere is a knitwear label founded by the Icelandic Hanna Jonsdottir and Ingrid Brandth from Norway. Since 2008, they have been hand-knitting unique hats that challenge typo acceptance in the world of craft. Photo by Paula Raché 55 of 68

KronKron Designers Hugrun Arnadottir and Magni Thorsteinsson present some 1200 shoes they have been designing over the last 10 years.
Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 57 of 68

KronKron Designers Hugrun Arnadottir and Magni Thorsteinsson present some 1200 shoes they have been designing over the last 10 years. At the exhibition opening visitors are treated with chocolate shoe soles on edible soil. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 58 of 68

Einar Thorsteinn The Museum of Design and Applied Art gives us a look in the filing process of the works Einar Thorsteinn, an Icelandic architect and mathematician who collaborated with architects and artists such as Buckminster Fuller, Frei Otto and more recently Olafur Eliasson. The inheritance including diaries, photographs, sketchbooks and architectural models are being sorted and filed. A delicate process which is open to the public until October 2018. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 59 of 68

Einar Thorsteinn
The Museum of Design and Applied Art gives us a look in the filing process of the works Einar Thorsteinn, an Icelandic architect and mathematician who collaborated with architects and artists such as Buckminster Fuller, Frei Otto and more recently Olafur Eliasson. The inheritance including diaries, photographs, sketchbooks and architectural models are being sorted and filed. A delicate process which is open to the public until October 2018. Photo by Paula Raché 60 of 68

Yrurari Yrurari is where Icelandic textile designer Yr Johannsdottir works on her projects. We discover her knitted works at an exhibition by SHIFT, a network that brings together Scottish and Icelandic designer-makers to talk, explore and inspire each other. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 61 of 68

SHIFT Who ever thought that tweed skirts from Scotland match perfectly with salmon skin bags from Iceland? We discovered this at an exhibition by SHIFT, a network that brings together Scottish and Icelandic designer-makers to talk, explore and inspire each other. Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 62 of 68

Tartan Design We thought tartans were for Scottish kilts only and we were wrong. We meet with Carol Martin, a Canadian tartan designer who fell in love with Iceland. She presents her tartan collection based on Iceland's colorful scenes and demonstrates us an online tartan design tool (not surprisingly developed in Scotland). Photo by Aart van Bezooijen 64 of 68

Another Dialogue Studio Hanna Whitehead presents her solo exhibition "Another Dialogue" at the Culture House. When entering a colorful popup space we discover her color ceramic works, based on the conversations of her earlier exhibition.
Photo by Paula Raché 65 of 68

Closing Party Do-it-yourself crowns made of paper as part of the DesignMarch lottery during the closing party at Perlan building. Photo by Paula Raché 67 of 68

Landscape A look at the amazing landscape during one of our bus rides. Photo by Paula Raché 68 of 68

Last weekend, DesignMarch 2018 celebrated its 10th anniversary. Over the span of three days, Iceland came together with its fellow Nordic countries to promote and celebrate Icelandic design.

On Thursday, the festival began with the international DesignTalks at the Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall to inform and inspire its visitors. During the evening, the festival opened at the Hafnarhus Reykjavik Art Museum with welcoming words from the city's major who was proud to have this festival in Reykjavik and the Iceland Design Centre who organizes the yearly event. And, of course, some live music was involved.

Throughout the next few days, we visited exhibitions, open studios, galleries and live performances. With design being one of Iceland's youngest disciplines, it is impressive to see the quick growth of the creative industry. Enjoy this photo gallery for a design update after 10 year's of celebrating Icelandic design.

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Aart van Bezooijen

Aart van Bezooijen is a Dutch industrial designer with an obsession for materials. In 2005, he founded the agency Material Stories to support companies, organizations and educators with materials research, innovation workshops, inspiring lectures and trend reports. 2011 he traveled the world with his partner as part of the "It's Not Easy Being Green" sustainability research project which was published in a book. From 2012–2020 he focused on hands-on materials education (Platform MAKE.) establishing a unique material collection at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in Germany (Burg Material). Since 2021 he lives and works in Italy exploring the future of materials and making at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (unibz).