The Ashtray, the Cupboard and the Leather Boots
This exhibition emerged from conversations with three women reflecting on a lifetime of memories connected to their most beloved possession – an object that was often unexpected: an ashtray, a cupboard, a pair of leather boots. Ordinary items, transformed by personal histories into something treasured.
A select group of designers have reconsidered or reimagined the ashtray, the cupboard, and the leather boots. Each designer offers a new interpretation, exploring the forms, meanings, and cultural associations embedded in these familiar objects. Once symbols of rebellion, romance, or sophistication, they become starting points for new stories and new ways of seeing.
Throughout the exhibition, recordings of the original conversations invite visitors to listen to the voices behind the selected objects. Together, the soundscapes and the newly created works reveal how the personal and the cultural intertwine, and how everyday things can become vessels for memory, identity, and desire.
Ultimately, the exhibition asks us to look again at the objects around us, and to consider what makes us hold on to them.
Concept and scenography: The DIRT
