Trends at #DDW17: New Crafts

New colour pigments from iron oxide rich ground water, new applications for the legacy in the Zuiderzeemuseum, glass samples made from sand from every corner of the world and non-woven construction materials now utilized for interior products; the DDW programme has a wealth of innovations in the field of craft.  

The exhibition HOW&WOW by the Crafts Council Nederland provides an in-depth insight into the craft person’s approach to work. They noticed a revival of craft this year; more appreciation and more innovation. We see two schools of thought among the participants: designers focused on unlocking and maintaining old crafts and designers who add a layer in which cross pollination can take place between new technology, biomaterial and craft. 

Dutch Design Awards finalist Das Leben Am Haverkamp is an example of the first group. They provide a new interpretation of Zeeland costumes and domestic objects which preserve traditional crafts, and reclaim attention. 

Jetske Visser, Kirstie van Noort and Lotte de Raadt demonstrate that manual filtering of ground water produces a deep red (sedimentary) substance ‘Oer’. This substance gets a new application in the work of these three designers. There is also attention for natural materials in the project ‘To See a World in a Grain of Sand’ by Atelier NL. For this project Atelier NL appealed to the citizens of the world to collect sand and to send it to them. It is their dream to map out the sands of the entire world through glass samples. You can see more about glass in the exhibition ‘Discover the magic of glass’ curated by Het Nationaal Glasmuseum including work by Christien Meindertsma. 

The Arnhem collective, including Atelier Rick Tegelaar, Klaas Kuiken, Studio Joris de Groot and Mieke van den Hout, got to work with the material Colback that is currently used exclusively in industry, as for example a reinforcement material. In the exhibition In4nite they demonstrate the possibilities of the material for interior design. Rosalie Bak is living proof that there are more cross-disciplinary connections within craft. Within the project Myco paste she examines the integration of bio-organisms in ceramics. Rosalie Bak is a participant in the project Crowdfunding Dutch Design in collaboration with voordekunst and Kickstarter, in the Klokgebouw.