Design Flanders is not new to travelling exhibitions: last year, as a follow up to the "Je Suis Dada" event revolving around Surrealism in Flemish design, it launched "Tales of Heroes". The latter focused on design objects based on a contemporary vision, but combined with a sense of nostalgia, it therefore featured pieces projected in the future and set to bring innovation into our lives while being at the same time strongly linked with the past.
The main purpose of such designs is to provide an answer to our collective thirst for a recognisable environment, for icons of the past and for processes inspired by traditional craftsmanship. The resulting objects tell a story and become therefore symbols of sensory and emotional experiences.
After last year's tour, "Tales of Heroes" is arriving back home in Belgium at the Design Flanders gallery. Opening next week, the event will feature crafty and semi-industrial interior design pieces, jewellery, furniture and small objects made by Flemish and Brussels-based designers.
Among the others there will be Davy Grosemans' "Lungo" coffee pot-shaped watering can, Cathy Coëz's porcelain figures, Alain Gilles's "Nomad" lamps, Muller Van Severen's minimalist furniture and Patrick Reuvis's lamplights.
Most pieces on display are produced in smaller runs, whether using traditional craftsmanship or industrial production. Each piece is also attributed its own role as hero within a broader cultural context in the exhibition and each object represents a type of heroic story that leads to another story.
Linde Hermans' "Feet on the Ground" shoes look for example like classic clogs made in a material similar to clay, but they are actually designed with the medical world in mind as they can be sterilised under high pressure and temperature; Jorge Manilla Navarrete's "Existence Ignored" necklace, part of his "Ese Hombre" collection, combines religion and modern design as the artist used statues of Christ to make his pieces that look like jewellery but may be employed as amulets, worn as protection or as enigmatic objects, as he states on his site.
"Tales of Heroes" also features 10 drawings by artist Brecht Evens that recount the poetic tale of two archetypical figures, everyday heroes in an imaginary world full of recognisable objects.
"Tales of Heroes", Design Vlaanderen (Design Flanders Gallery), Koloniënstraat 56 – 7e verdieping, Brussel, Belgium, 6th September – 6th October 2013.
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