Formex 18–21 January will involve 21 Young Designers – Formex’s platform for young, unestablished talent. The magic of glass, encounters between cultures, and patriarchal structures are things that inspire some of the designers who will be exhibiting at the next fair.

Kristine Lynum Bjerkem is a glassblower, designer and interior designer. She trained at Glasskolan in Kosta, the National Academy of the Arts in Oslo and the glass department of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, Bornholm. At Formex she will be exhibiting the glass series Dom, which consists of five different glass objects all blown in the same shape.
“I think glass is magical. The hot mass has to be tamed in the manufacturing process, but you have to follow it too, and everything has to happen quickly and with determination, but also with sensitivity. Creating objects in glass is mentally and physically demanding. The heat, the loud noise from the ovens and the workshop, the heavy pieces. A great deal of energy has gone into every product that comes out of a glassworks. This is energy that I want to keep, so that you can feel its strong presence once the object is completed, cold and still in your living room,” says Kristine Lynum Bjerkem.

Boaz Katz and Qian Jiang, Studio Dejawu, met three years ago when they were both working at Normann-Copenhagen. Qian Jiang originally comes from China. He set up Studio Dejawu Design in Stockholm in 2015. The name Dejawu builds on the philosophy that drives and directs his design process. Boaz Katz is from Israel and now works as an industrial designer in Stockholm. His work is inspired by the artificial, the mass-produced and the compromises required to translate an idea into a real product.

“Our collaborative process is shaped by the fact that we come from different backgrounds. Although our motivation differs, it affects our tastes so that they complement each other. The collection that we will be showing at Formex is the result of the way our two cultures came together in Stockholm,” Boaz Katz and Qian Jiang explain.

The creative studio Butler/Lindgård consists of Hanna Butler and Karin Olu Lindgård. The duo’s work often exists in the borderland between art and design, where a clear producer and the presence of the human hand set the tone. Their list of products covers the entire field of design, although their specialist area is textile design. This means that irrespective of their choices of materials, they always work from a textile-based perspective, with the focus on the material, color and tactility.

“Our creative process often starts out from a thought or a political position. This year we are presenting a number of new products from #titsnassproject in which we thought about how patriarchal structures in public spaces decide which bodies and phenomena are represented and in which ways,” Hanna Butler and Karin Olu Lindgård explain.

Young Designers Spring 2017:
Amus&Anna
BELIGHTFUL BUTTERFLY OASIS www.belightful.fi
Boaz Katz and Studio Dejawu www.boazkatz.com  & www.studiodejawu.com
Butler/Lindgård www.butlerlindgard.com
Details by M. www.detailsbym.se
E.Leijon www.eleijon.com
Elin Wesslund www.elinwesslund.se
Täljogram www.taljogram.se
Form – a nomad design studio www.form-nomadshop.com
Glasstudion Big Pink www.glasstudionbigpink.se
imiform www.imiform.se
Joanna Günther  www.joannagunther.se
Lynum Bjerkem www.lynumbjerkem.com
Langaeble Stockholm www.langaeble.com
Lykalia K www.lykaliak.se
Matilda Svensson www.matildasvensson.com
MUTANT www.studiomutant.se
MYYA  www.myya.se
Ró By RoShamBo www.ro-selection.com
RUST ME DESIGN www.rustmedesign.com
Whispers echo  www.whispersecho.se

To be a part of Young Designers the products shown should not yet be in production by a lager company. The designer is allowed three exhibits in the area, but each must be for a new product. Adjacent to Young Designers is the area Next Step, which is for exhibitors who have come a little further along in establishing their name in the industry. Young Designers is being organized for the fourteenth time and Next Step for the tenth time.

#formex