Designblok, Prague 2017
Team Mint just came back from an inspirational trip to Prague where Lina was part of the jury for Designblok Diploma Selection at the international Design festival. It is the fourth year Lina followed the invitation to be part of the panel of curators and gallery owners, awarding European design graduates.
For more details on the event please visit the Designblok website.
Continue reading to see a selection of photographs taken from the awards ceremony as well as photos from the trip, enjoy!
Diploma Selection
The Diploma Selection Competition presents projects by talented graduate students from all over Europe. It is organised by Designblok under direction of Jana Zielinski and Jiří Macek of Krehky Gallery in corporation with EUNIC, the European Union National Institutes of Culture in the Czech Republic. The finalists include 15 product and fashion designers. The winners receive a price of EUR 1,000 and the opportunity to present their work at next year’s edition of the festival.
Jiří Macek, Creative Director for Designblok, says:
“This year, we have short-listed finalists from a total of 152 applicants coming from 42 universities spanning 17 European countries. We are happy to see that the competitors submitted interesting projects and are not afraid of experimenting with materials, exploring sustainable resources and presenting creative concepts. Selected prestigious European universities participate in the competition so the bar continues to be set very high.”
Hunters and Pickers by Lucie Miklóšová
(Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design Prague, Czech Republic)
9539 Days by Barbora Štefánková
(Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design Prague, Czech Republic)
Chandelier O by Helena Todd
(Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design Prague, Czech Republic)
The panel of judges deliberating and taking their time to analyse the designer’s work. This year was exceptionally hard to judge with the high standard of work.
Either&Or by Lucie Vostalová
(The University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Czech Republic)
Jana Zielinski, Designblok Director:
“This year, there are many competitors from Czech universities. Lenka Vacková will present a collection of carpets, accessories and clothes made from waste textiles. Fascinated by the world of miniatures, Helena Patelisová created original porcelain figurines. Lucie Fleková experimented with etching on porcelain objects. The short-listed projects have one common denominator though – respect for traditional craftsmanship, material innovations and recycling.”
The Finalists
3rd Place
Mascots by Helena Patelisová
(Jan Evangelista University Ústí nad Laben, Czech Republic)
“ The presented collection of figures engages the fascination by a down-scaled world and the human urge to talk to such objects. The work brings an original product that portrays me as captured in three situations via corresponding costumes – a shark, a rocket, and a fly agaric. People tend to sew costumes onto their own life situations, thus becoming mascots of them. As a mask, an armour, or even a dose of sentiment.”
2nd Place
Forgotten Collection by Anja Lapatsch, Annika Unger
(Berlin University of Arts, Germany)
“The Forgotten Collection is an archaeological record of a radical alchemical discovery, which reinterprets the material narrative that had fallen into oblivion.”
1st Place
Syria 2087 by Anna Banout
(Academy of Fine Arts. Warsaw, Poland)
“The work fuses Syrian traditions and stories from Mars, highlighting the similarities and seeking their shared relative points. The collection of objects- stories translated to the morphology of objects- responses to development and disintegration as well as everything that occurs in the meantime, and tries to preserve the elements of Syrian culture in a form that is new and future-orientated. The selection of materials, methods and techniques pays tribute to the traditional crafts.”
Jana Zielinski taking centre stage to present the awards ceremony.
The jury of experts awarding the winners for both categories.
Helena Patelisová receiving her award from judges; Gilles Massé, Jane Withers, Tulga Beyerle, Juliet Kinchin and Adam Štěch.
Anja Lapatsch and Annika Unger receiving their award.
Anna Banout, winner of the completion receiving her award.
Lina with her fellow judges; Rossana Orlandi (Gallery owner, Milan), Cok de Rooy (Gallery owner, Frozen Fountain, Amsterdam), friend and designer Maxim Velcovsky and the finalists; Anna Banout, Anja Lapatsch and Annika Unger.
The Mint team had a wonderful trip and would like to thank those who made it so possible!