May 2009
In the short time since its launch three years ago, Tent London has become the most diverse and innovative design exhibition during the London Design Festival.
Not one to stand still, Tent London strive to build upon their successes and deliver fresh and forward thinking design in all disciplines.
Tent London 2009 has some exciting new aspects to discover – from Tent Digital’s debut at the Truman Brewery to the installation of the winning design for
The Art Fund Pavilion in Covent Garden, spreading Tent London across the capital.
Tent Digital is a new exhibition within Tent London - a 1,000 sqm space dedicated to digitally-enabled design in product design, technology and web.
With the launch of London Digital Week this year, this new addition couldn’t be better placed.
For the first time during the London Design Festival media/digital brands, digital agencies and interaction designers will have an exhibition catering for them in this vibrant edgy environment.
See ‘Notes to Editors’ for websites which provide a good illustration of the Digital Landscape that this exciting new addition will represent.
Last year’s successful DeTnk.tv will return with a brand new and bigger program of interviews and debates with top designers and industry figures direct from the Tent TV studio.
In 2009, Tent’s activities will reach across the city. Tent London and The Lightbox are delighted to announce that The Art Fund Pavilion 2009 will be hosted in Covent Garden during London Design Festival.
The wheels for this unique architecture competition were set in motion earlier this year with the call for entries for the competition brief.
The response to the architecture competition was astonishing, both in the number and variety of entries and their creativity. The winning design by Tina Manis Associates, a New York based practice reflects the international reach of the applications, which came from 52 countries.
The 35sqm structure will provide an outpost for the excitement of Tent’s show in the East End, offering a taste of the design on display at the Truman Brewery.
The growing popularity of Content will see this show double in size expanding into the entrance of the venue, greeting visitors as they arrive.
This year, Content has received a huge a mount of interest from overseas exhibitors with a particularly strong uptake from Japanese and Korean designers.
Hiroshi Kawano, designer for Ligne Roset and graphic and visual artist’s Nendesign are just two of the Japanese exhibitors not to be missed.
From Korea, KDF (Korea Design Foundation) and the Iwashin Design Studio are both working to put on impressive exhibits at Tent London.
Changes in the exchange rate have made London a more affordable destination for international designers to launch their products and they are keen to make Tent London their launch pad during the London Design Festival.
Other key international exhibitors include Rodrigo Alonso from Chile; Swedish collective HDK Steneby, part of Gothenburg University; dOt from Italy and woodloops just nature! from Germany.
Given the economic status-quo, many of our UK designers are also keen to stay on their home turf.
All in all, the diverse range of exhibitors in Content this September will make for a fresh, yet rich showcase not to be missed.
New UK designers to Content for 2009 include Hundreds Tens Units, a new company whose debut collection will feature simple, beautiful and useful products, manufactured utilising local resources and expertise.
Mark Boyce will exhibit a series of bespoke hand carved ceramic wall coverings with a Japanese Rope Bondage theme; Overend Studio launch their new sustainable design practice; Groupdesign will showcase their new collection of progressive lighting, furniture and home accessories and Cardiff based designer, Vladimir Rachev will be presenting his ‘Soil’ Cutlery amongst other designs.
Previous Content exhibitors back again this year with new collections to launch include Tom Lovegrove, Holo, SKK, Jon Male, Rebecca Ellen, Junk Inc, Jessica Light and Zoe Murphy who made her debut at Tent London last year in ‘Talent Zone’.
Since then, Liberty have snapped up her first collection of recycled and hand printed furniture and textiles inspired by her hometown of Margate.
Despite Tent London’s exciting new additions and project for 2009, Content will remain ‘the hub’ of Tent London.
Content is where up-and-coming designers and established companies exhibit to both trade and consumer markets.
It is a multidisciplinary show with a rich mix of furniture, lighting, digital media, ceramics and textiles, materials and accessories.
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