Design showcase intrigues Italians

A design showcase from Western Australia has just returned from Italy after a successful exhibition of locally designed contemporary furniture, lighting and products at Milan’s prestigious Salone Satellite design fair.

The exhibition, entitled ‘Riches of Isolation’ featured 23 emerging WA designers from Curtin University and the Form Contemporary Craft and Design’s ‘Designing Futures’ program. 

Themes of identity, design and the designer are communicated through the project, which examines the remoteness, isolation, unique environment and the diverse population of WA.

Form industry development manager Kris Brankovic said the exhibition was a major success, with many retailers, manufacturers and designers visiting the works and meeting the 15 designers from Curtin and Form who attended the event.

Mr Brankovic said many expressed their surprise that WA was positioning itself as a source of design and found the celebration of the state’s uniqueness and isolation intriguing.

“The trip was about profile building for the designers, to establish relationships that can hopefully lead to production contracts, but it’s a long process,” he said.

Mr Brankovic said the industry was extremely competitive with a lot of talented people competing for a limited number of production contracts.

“Designers have to distinguish themselves in Europe through the ‘build Australia brand’ but it’s a long-term project to achieve individual recognition,” he said.

Mr Brankovic said the trade fair highlight was a small pool of international talent with works emphasising multi-functionality and mainly using synthetic new materials.

Now back on home soil, the designers from the Designing Futures program will finish their 12 month structured production and development course mid-year and will generate their own promotional strategies.

Form executive director Lynda Dorrington said the Designing Futures program was one of many professional development opportunities the non-profit group offered to 3D media designers.

Ms Dorrington said the association began as a support group for Craft West 35 years ago to address the lack of growth opportunities for WA designers and the limited amount of funding channelled into the arts.

“We now have a diverse group of members from interior decorators, architects to journalists who want to see a more vibrant creative community in our state,” she said.

Ms Dorrington said talented WA designers were still leaving the state due to a perceived lack of arts infrastructure and dynamics in the environment.

“Form is thinking outside the box by building a market for their works here and encouraging them to stay. We definitely have a large buying capacity in WA, and with our proximity to Asian markets there is much opportunity for designers here,” she said.

“We’ve also just attracted renowned furniture designer Jon Goulder, past winner of a Bombay Sapphire Design Award, from NSW to WA to be our artist in residence, which will be of huge benefit to our up coming designers.”

The organisation receives core funding from ArtsWA and the Australia Council with support for various programs provided by Rio Tinto, Alcoa, BHP and Wesfarmers Arts among others.

Ms Dorrington said Form was also in talks with the Midland Redevelopment Authority to establish a public glass works facility on the site of the Midland rail workshops, currently undergoing major renewal and development.

The Riches of Isolation exhibition will open to WA audiences on Friday April 28 at the Form Gallery, 357 Murray Street Perth and will run to May 26.