London’s Design Museum Shop Turns Into Supermarket With Designer Canned Products
Image via Design Museum
Under the UK’s COVID-19 guidelines, museums and art spaces in London will remain closed to the public till May 17. However, London’s Design Museum, in partnership with Bombay Sapphire, has come up with a creative way to welcome back visitors.
As non-essential retail restrictions lifted on April 12, the Design Museum shop will transform into a pop-up supermarket for customers. Stocked with essential products, these items will be packaged in artworks designed by emerging creatives.
Supermarket will be open for just five days, from April 21 to 25. This installation, the brainchild of artist and designer Camille Walala, will allow visitors to purchase limited-edition pieces of art, which at the same time are essential items on their shopping lists.
According to Wallpaper, 10 emerging artists and designers were specially selected to create the artworks, hailing from various backgrounds and disciplines. The lineup includes Charlotte Edey, Holly Warburton, Isadora Lima, Jess Warby, Joey Yu, Katherine Plumb, Katie Kimmel, Kentaro Okawara, Michaela Yearwood-Dan, and Ruff Mercy.
“It’s also giving a platform to designers who wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to design this sort of quotidian packaging,” Tim Marlow, chief executive of London’s Design Museum, told Wallpaper.
Featured products include toilet rolls by Michaela Yearwood-Dan, tea tins by Katherine Plumb, washing-up detergent by Jessica Warby, bread bags by Charlotte Edey, and limited-edition Bombay Sapphire gin and tonic bottles by Ruff Mercy.
The space will double up as a gallery and supermarket, featuring Walala’s signature polychromatic designs and patterns. The artist, who is known for vibrant works, drew inspiration from 1980s supermarkets and the Memphis design movement for the project.
Each item being sold will be available in a limited-edition run of 1,200 units per item, with prices comparable to regular retail stores. “We wanted the pricing to be accessible because that really underscores the point of this, that creativity is essential and we wanted people to buy pieces of art at everyday prices,” said Natasha Curtin, global vice-president of Bombay Sapphire.
All proceeds from Supermarket, which will be available both in-store and online, will go towards the Design Museum’s new Emerging Designer Access Fund, a scheme that offers free Design Museum tickets to up-and-coming artists and designers.
Find out more about Supermarket here.
Image via Design Museum
Image via Design Museum
[via Wallpaper, images via Design Museum]
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