Main Programme

The Upstream//Design Tales exhibition

No one tells tales to adults. No one except items.
The Upstream//Design Tales  exhibition collects such narrative items, things which elude the definition of industrial design. The projects presented here are by no means universal, they do not care for the needs of the mass audience. If they are mass-produced at all, the series are rather short, with individual items differing from each other. They are very personal, often weird.
The designers whom I invited to the exhibition move against the current of mass unification. They take their own ways. Items which they design bear the mark of their identity and sensibility. Their works look as if they lived their own lives, away from the hands of their makers. By putting emotions into their projects, the designers establish a dialogue with both the audience and the end user. They convey their own view of the world. Frequently, they draw upon connotations and culture calques, they amaze, amuse, irritate. What is more, they force the audience to ask questions about the border between design and art, between decorative items and articles of daily use, serial and unique products. Above all, they engage us in their tale. They invite us to the world on the other side of the mirror.

Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka
curator

ARTISTS:

Agnieszka Bar (Poland)
Agnieszka Lasota (Poland)
Alessandro Dubini (Switzerland)
BCXSY (Israel)
Bogdan Kosak (Poland)
Elisa Strozyk (Germany)
Hommin (Taiwan)
Ibride (France)
Ieva Laurina (Latvia)
Karina Murasińska (Poland)
Lapolka (Poland)
Maarten De Ceulaer (Belgium)
Magdalena Trzcionka (Poland)
MALAFOR (Poland)
Monika Jarg (Estonia)
Pieke Bergmans (The Netherlands)
Pudelskern (Austria)
Joanna Rusin / Agnieszka Czop (Poland)
Smarin (Francja)
Tom Price (Great Britain)
Weltevree (The Netherlands)