Adorno presents the Danish collection for the Virtual Design Destination, an interactive online exhibition inspired by Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" and curated by Pil Bredahl. Register to attend the virtual tour

The theme for this year's first Virtual Design Destination by Adorno is “The New Reality.” Preparations were initiated during the surge of COVID-19 in Europe. The curators of the fourteen participating countries have been asked to reflect on specific experiences, thoughts, and themes from the time of lockdown in the curation and art direction of each of their country collections. They have been working with leading designers from their design scene to develop sub-narratives to the overarching theme.

DENMARK: LITTEN UP

Curated by Pil Bredahl

Within this collection, Bredahl explores Danish design in a new light. The COVID-19 crisis brought forth the resurgence of  Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave,” where the prisoners in the cave only see the world through the shadows their surroundings throw; It is devastatingly easy to mistake appearance for reality. This collection is inspired by this allegory - requesting the audience to see the causes of shadows in our society and culture to achieve a reflective understanding to achieve positive change.

Bredahl’s chosen designers exhibit visual modes of individual expression. As Bredahl prioritizes direct and unpretentious design, the curated collection investigates light and darkness, shadow and object. The designers are all based in Denmark and are continuously shaped by Danish aesthetics. Stine Mikkelsen’s light object is a beautiful continuation of the material aesthetics she has been working with for years. Her design seems ancient and futuristic at the same time. Phuc Van Dang is a well known street artist; for this collection he has for the first time transformed his black-and-white motifs into three-dimensional sculpture chairs. Translated within their work is the remains, or shadows, of external influences originating from the designer’s global background. This collection is a collective cave of comments on worldviews.

Register here to attend the guided tour of the Virtual Exhibition for the Lithuanian collection, hosted by curator Pil Bredahl.

September 13 / 15:00 PM GMT

MEET THE CURATOR

Pil Bredahl

Pil Bredahl graduated in Product and Furniture Design from The Danish Design School (now the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design), and earned a Master’s Degree in Design Theory in 2013, writing her dissertation on design and sustainability. Since then, she has worked in the experimental sector of the design industry, occasionally making forays into more political domains. 

She was part of the Scandinavian, female-only design group “Kropsholder,” which was founded in the late 1990s, and has recently been working with design as a tool for integration among women immigrants. She is also a co-founder of the design group FairTradeDesigners.com, created in 2007, which uses the design profession as a social lever to explore and promote sustainable development processes.

FEATURED DESIGNERS

CHRISTIAN & JADE / PHUC VAN DANG / SIGNE FENSHOLT / STINE MIKKELSEN

SUPPORTED BY

DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION / NORDIC CULTURE POINT / EMBASSY OF DENMARK IN LONDON

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