Notes
January 12, 2013

Inclusive design kicks off Welcome Croatia Festival in London

The exhibition „UK/Croatia Extra/ordinary Design Workshops“ has opened the six-month long Welcome Croatia Festival in London, an event which celebrates Croatia’s accession to the European Union this year. The exhibition runs until 27 January at British Council Gallery, 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A.

This exhibition displays the products created in the inclusive design workshops in Croatia in Zagreb (2011) and Osijek (2012).

From January to June 2013, Croatia’s vibrant cultural life will be introduced through events covering film, sport, food and wine, architecture and design, literature, fashion, photography, music, archaeology and history. The festival will end with the Croatian Statehood Day celebrations at the end of June and EU membership on July 1st.

Workshop Extra/ordinary design at Uriho ceramics Zagreb.

The UK/Croatia Extra/ordinary Design Workshops exhibition will give UK audiences the opportunity to see the UK-Croatia partnership at work: building trust between people, institutions and our two countries and helping young people develop skills in tough economic conditions.

Hand-crusher for Lavender - Uriho Ceramics team.

These workshops connected professional designers and organisations run by, employing or educating socially marginalised groups to create a variety of products with an accompanying visual identity. It has strengthened the organisations’ economic self-sufficiency and enabled them to compete more effectively in the market.

The multifunctional bag that transforms into a dress.

More than 60 Croatian designers volunteered their skills for the initiative, and were briefed to co-design and produce a sustainable range of products that would help strengthen the different organisations’ economic self-sufficiency.

Led by the HHC’s Julia Cassim and featuring members from the Croatian Designers’ Association and the School of Design at the University of Zagreb, the team has worked with organisations such as ZVONO, a creative centre for young people with learning difficulties and Association for Promoting Inclusion Subsidiary Zagreb.

Koletic Ratko's drawings served as a model for the collection of textile toys.

The organization was led through a partnership by the British Council Croatia, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art, the Croatian Designers Association and the School of Design – University of Zagreb.

The process included a diverse range of products, each with its own brand identity, ranging from dipped ceramic lamps, painted stools and wooden door-stops to textile and printed goods and even a signature formal clothing collection.

Curated by Cassim, along with Mirna Reinprecht of the Croatian Designers Association and Sanja Bencetic of the School of Design at the University of Zagreb, the exhibition has been designed by Gero Grundmann of Studio Bec.

From the Jupi By Upi collection developed at the workshop.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published