Mindcraft 2015, winner of the Milano Design Award at the Chiostro Minore di San Simpliciano, via dei Cavalieri del Santo Sepolcro
Mindcraft is an annual event with the craftsmen and the most talented designers of Denmark, collected in a series of exhibitions organized by the Danish Arts Foundation and the Danish Agency for Culture.
Now in its eighth edition, the exposition this year, held in the picturesque setting of the old cloister, the cloisters of San Simpliciano in Brera, is curated by Italo-Danish designer GamFratesi, which selected 14 new works of 19 of the most important creative figures of Denmark.
The theme of the 2015 Mindcraft the two designers have chosen ‘ In Between ‘ which reflects the fact that Danish craftspeople and designers work in a field of tension in between mind and craft.
This exhibition covers the full range, including developed ideas, conceptual qualities and sublime artistic technical accomplishments, coupled with a unique understanding of material.
These are housed inside black metal cages on top of the mirrored floor or hung from temporary supports in the covered walkways that wrap around the space.
Participants are: benandsebastian, Louise Campbell, Rosa Tolnov Clausen, Claydies, Edvard-Steenfatt, Halstrøm-Odgaard, Ole Jensen, Jørgensen-Depping, Akiko Kuwahata, Cecilie Manz, Eske Rex, Tora Urup, Henrik Vibskov and Jakob Wagner
Project by Henrik Vibskov
umspiral by henrik vibskov
The idea behind Mindcraft is to explore the range of artistic experimentation, artisan know-how and pragmatic design.
Reflection is the keyword of the curatorship of GamFratesi: …. “ Reflection because the Court of the Faculty of theology was used by monks to reflect, but mainly because it is the representation of our intervention in this beautiful space, completely covered with mirrors. Reflection between the story and the work, between the modernity of the exhibits and the historicity of the place ” ….. Enrico Fratesi.
About GamFratesi
GamFratesi studio was founded in 2006 by Danish architect Stine Gam and Italian architect Enrico Fratesi. The studio is based in Copenhagen, though Gam and Fratesi are continuously travelling between Italy and Denmark for development and research of new projects.
Nominated Best Design Studio for the 2014 Icon Awards, GamFratesi’s design takes its creative drive from a fusion of tradition and renewal and in an experimental approach to their chosen materials and techniques.
With their dual traditional background, Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi draw on the classic Danish furniture and craft tradition as well as the classic Italian intellectual and conceptual approach.
Understanding a tradition and addressing it actively in the workshop makes it possible to expand on it. From this cross-cultural substrate they create furniture that respectfully reflects tradition while also featuring unique embedded stories, symbols and associations, often expressed in a minimalist idiom.
GamFratesi aim to create furniture that illustrates the process and the techniques that created it, and which reflect a persistent exploration of the diverse border zone between harmony and disharmony.
About Mindcraft
Mindcraft is an exhibition concept showcasing some of Denmark’s most talented craftspeople and designers.
The curated exhibitions demonstrate the qualities, potentials and versatility of new Danish craft and design.
The Mindcraft exhibitions are organized by the Danish Arts Foundation and the Danish Agency for Culture (2008-2013 organized by Danish Crafts).
Mindcraft is an internationally recognized and award-winning exhibition concept with varying participants and external curators that presents the best of Danish craft and design at the world’s leading design event, Milan Design Week.
The first Mindcraft exhibition was presented in connection with the Milan Design Week 2008 and helped set a new agenda for Danish craft in the international arena. Later that year, the exhibition was shown at 100% Design in London, where it received the award for ‘Best Contribution to 100% Design’.
The Mindcraft exhibition concept has provided a high-profile professional platform for the international exposure of Danish craft and design. Combining the words MIND and CRAFT, the title refers to the dual nature of the works as representing both the finest level of craftsmanship and a conceptual component in the form of a message, a mindset or an attitude. Together, these two aspects define a particular Danish approach to craft and design.
The exhibition concept was initially developed and organized by Danish Crafts. In 2014, Danish Crafts merged with the Danish Agency for Culture, and the Mindcraft exhibitions continue under the aegis of the Danish Arts Foundation and the Danish Agency for Culture.
