Malmstens Linköping University will be there this year, exhibiting together with Konstfack (Sweden's largest fine arts university college) in a 16th century monastery. Against the background of these historical surroundings, visitors will see and experience student innovation and creativity.
Ten innovative items
Twelve students represent programmes given at Malmstens in furniture design, cabinetmaking and furniture upholstery. Ten innovative items will be exhibited, and in most cases the design and professional execution are the result of collaboration between students from different programmes.“The furniture created by the students shows how traditional handcrafts can be developed to something new and contemporary,” says Ulf Brunne, head of division at Malmstens Linköping University, which is based on the university campus at Lidingö in Stockholm.
The three-year programmes focus on quality, sustainability and contemporary requirements, while imparting knowledge about the history of handcrafts and furniture.
14 different shades of blue
Björn Sundelin, studying furniture design, and Ottar Gjendahl Sörensen, studying cabinetmaking, are responsible for one of the pieces in the exhibition, Vattenfall (“Waterfall”). They have combined Swedish pine, oak, 14 different shades of blue veneer and golden maple.
“It symbolises the quest for the unknown,” is how the students explain their intentions.
A waterfall invites you to explore what lies behind it. The thin blue veneer panels of the piece can be adjusted individually, and thus the expressions that Vattenfall can be given are limitless.
Malmstens has its roots in the school for cabinetmaking set up by Swedish furniture designer Carl Malmsten. After being incorporated with Linköping University, the division now offers three bachelor programmes: furniture design, cabinetmaking and furniture upholstery.
Translation: George Farrants