Now that we all spend time in our homes, we appreciate and notice all the more the usefulness and beauty of the objects that surround us. This idea of beauty in everyday life is the theme of the auction and exhibition "Design. Beauty in Everyday Life" (which can be viewed in 3D) and the accompanying first Polish online design festival. The spring edition of Desa Design Days is dedicated in particular to one of the first and most important design institutions in Europe - the Institute of Industrial Design, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.
The Institute's activities have revolutionized Polish design. Furniture, ceramics, fabric from under the mark of IWP were characterized by modern forms and decorations, while being tailored to the needs of users. A real design revolution in the 1970s was Zdzisław Wróblewski's system of self-assembly sectional furniture. They are among the most innovative projects of the Institute of Industrial Design. Wróblewski's works enjoyed great popularity and were awarded at numerous fairs and exhibitions. In addition to furniture, sketches of commercialand catering kiosks, as well as appliances and household appliances, among others, came out from his hand. Even today, despite the passage of years, all his works delight with their freshness and functionality. The exhibition will present chairs and an armchair by Zdzislaw Wroblewski, which are unique today. Also unique and innovative is the design of the chair "Spider" by Maria Chomentowska. It is one of the Institute's most recognizable designs, and almost iconic in the history of Polish design. The chair is famous for its extremely lightweight form achieved by the designer's use of plastic plywood material. One copy of the chair is in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw.
#Designhome, or beauty in everyday life
The exhibition and auction "Design. Beauty in Everyday Life" is also a unique opportunity for lovers of ceramics and porcelain. The works of Lubomir Tomaszewski are considered true pearls of post-war design. It was the designs made for the Institute of Industrial Design that brought him the greatest recognition. Extremely interesting are his figurines depicting human figures. One of them is the minimalist work "Singer" presented at the exhibition and auction. Tomaszewski consciously eliminated unnecessary elements of his compositions and simplified them in a very thoughtful way. In addition to people, he also depicted animals in an extremely characteristic way. Some of the works on display, objects not signed with the mark of any label, are probably some of the first, perhaps trial copies. Particularly noteworthy is a plaster figure of a seated girl. It is probably the author's model for the "Girl with a Doll" figurine popular in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to objects signed with the IWP mark, the "Beauty for Everyday Life" exhibition will present examples of faience from the best Polish factories, decorative author's ceramics and the best examples of Polish utility and artistic glass.
From left:chair designed by Maria Chomentowska; from right: fabric designed by Wojciech Sadley
photo courtesy of the organizers of DesaDesign Days
In turn, the sister exhibition and auction "Polish School of Textile" features unique works by such artists as Maria Teresa Chojnacka, Andrzej Rajch and Magdalena Abakanowicz, whose spatial hanging forms - abakans - have been shown at New York's MoMA and Paris' Centre Pompidou, among others. It was these that in 1962 secured the artist's win at the Lausanne Biennale of Artistic Textiles and revolutionized thinking about artistic textiles. This June, London's Tate Modern will host a monographic exhibition of Abakanowicz's work focusing on her achievements in textiles. DESA Unicum will present her 1965 work "Dorota" and her fabric "Archive 1960-75."
The unique objects (more than 250 works in total) will be presented during Desa Design Days, which will be held entirely online for the first time on April 18-19. As part of the festival, people are encouraged to show off their home design in photos tagged #designhome on social media.
You can find the Desa Design Days program here.
