DENFAIR 2016: Wrap Up
Melbourne is known for its diverse, multi-layered culture and society, and is the city that has gained a reputation as the cultural and design hub of Australia. DENFAIR is a way to celebrate and showcase the creativity that flows through Melbourne. A juried event by invitation only as a pre-selection requirement, DENFAIR includes an independent industry selection panel that reviews all other applications. It is this way that ensures the quality and exclusivity of designers. DENFAIR focuses on the most unique and innovative.
DENFAIR was back again for its second year at the Melbourne Convention Centre. This year saw the event double in size with over 300 brands exhibited, from Space, Cult, Living Edge, Ajar and Jardan alongside many new and emerging brands, a handful of who we spoke to about their products and new releases pre-event.
DENFAIR immersed visitors into a world of creativity and high-end design, creating an exhilarating and influential environment. This year, fluoro was an official media partner for the event with an onsite presence for the event duration. We bring you a selection of handpicked designers and spaces from DENFAIR.
Handkrafted is a community marketplace connecting people with woodworkers to commission quality custom furniture and goods. This was reflected thoughtfully at DENFAIR, as Handkrafted presented a space where emerging designers came together. One maker from Handkrafted was Hugh Makin of Makin Workshop. Based in Castlemaine, Victoria, Makin produces pieces from local trees. He is an artisan and maker of contemporary bespoke furniture. Areas of specialisation include free-standing furniture and fixed cabinetry. The other wares on show at Handkrafted included pieces from Victorian furniture and object makers Bern Chandley, Auld Design, Smith & Thomas, Sawdust Bureau, Apparentt, and Glencross.
Using both traditional and modern techniques in the creation of their design pieces, Porcelain Bear create unique and bespoke porcelain furniture, lighting and homewares that are beautifully considered, perfectly formed and finely crafted. The creative forces behind Porcelain Bear, Gregory Bonasera and Anthony Raymond possess a deep, intuitive understanding of porcelain that allows them to push the boundaries of the material, taking it to places no other artists have gone before. From lighting designs to tableware and the more recent focus on architectural forms, the skilled designers and craftsmen take the centuries-old material and transform it into covetable contemporary designs in their Collingwood atelier and showroom. Their ranges include the Eido lighting collection, demure and crimped, or the beautiful Fruit Tree bowl collection, resembling the tiny branches of a tree. They had their new collection on show at DENFAIR demonstrating a use of high-end manufacturing techniques that bring their creations to life.
Upon spotting Bentu we were immediately drawn to their products. Perhaps it was the use of concrete or perhaps the striking simplicity of their designs, but most likely it was a combination of both. Bentu is a Guangzhou-based experimental design studio that really does away with over decoration and allows necessity and function to guide their designers. Their range arches from lighting, homewares and to objects like soap dishes, but it is their innovative use of unconventional materials like concrete or marble, and travertine of lava for some of their handmade lighting. Their designs are simplistic, yet extremely in-tune with complex design principals like lines, forms and colours, to create works of great character. Single frame is restriction of space and freedom. Meanwhile, two frames are combination, but three frames, like children’s toy bricks, creative and changeable, can ignite imagination. This is the philosophy that has led Bentu design to construct ‘zhi and kou,’ a pair of furnishings that allow users to compose shelves, tables, and seating arrangements. This was on show at DENFAIR.
Moving to art: The Gallery presented the spaces that represented the art at DENFAIR. As DENFAIR is dedicated to celebrating and strengthening the local contemporary arts industry, ‘The Gallery’ returned with an impressive line up of independent artists, and artists represented by commercial and local galleries. Galleries and artists included Kerry Armstrong, Hannah Quinlivan, Flinders Lane Gallery, Karen Woodbury Gallery and Gallery Smith. The Gallery was a gateway for the melding of gallery and design professionals, where visitors could explore the complementary nature of art and design and the pivotal role art has on the interior experience.
Creativity may not progress without replenishment. Kvadrat Maharam restaurant was a part of DENFAIR this year, providing a quality dining experience for visitors to relax and do business in an inspirational setting of new Australian art and design. This space blended design with experience, and in a first for both DENFAIR in the venue, the space was furnished by Cult design featuring product by Ross Didier, Adam Goodrum and Henry Wilson. Defining the space were layers of knotted textile screening as a result of collaboration between Kvadrat Maharam and Melbourne artist Sarah Parkes of Smalltown.
The handpicked collection ID. X THE SNAP presented new works by independent Australian designers and makers. Founded and curated by Anne-Maree Sargeant, ID. X THE SNAP showcased first release lighting, furniture, objects and bathroom furnishings and accessories from an exciting line up of local talent, spanning early career through to established practitioner.
As DENFAIR 2016 came to a close, the diversity of designers was evident, but so was the thoughtfulness to craftsmanship from form to sustainability. While local makers battle with the fast market of replica furniture, bespoke designers offer not only something that is aesthetically unique, but also something that considers a sustainable future for environment, economy and designers. Watch this space for DENFAIR 2017.
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