“The idea for Ukurant came from us just talking about what we were all going to do after we’d finished our time at the design school; how you go from being a student of design to being a designer. It seemed to us that there were some unwritten rules and hierarchical structures in the industry that we felt needed to be challenged,” says Kamma Rosa Schytte. After puzzling around with this question for some time, the four founders realized that there weren’t any initiatives out there that provided an answer to their dilemma; so, they decided to do it themselves instead.
But how do you do that? For Ukurant, it all started with laying down ground rules: “We made a framework that served as guiding principles in the curation process: For a design to be considered ukurant, it has to be experimental in one way or another in the sense that it must be original and contribute with new perspectives to the design scene,” remarks Josefine Krabbe Munck.
Often finding themselves with a feeling of disconnection between the budding students and the furniture industry, the founders believed that a community-driven ethos was a must: “You know, it can be quite scary to walk out of school and into the offices of established manufacturers with a pitch in hand. We felt that if we could have our peers, being emerging designers from around the world standing side-by-side with one another, then there would be a sense of empowerment that would give them the courage to show their work to the world,” says Lærke Ryom and adds: “It is very much this idea of Ukurant being by young designers, for young designers striving to raise the bar for the better of emerging designers. By partnering with Muuto for this year’s exhibition, this exchange of ideas and relations can be taken to a higher level where our exhibiting designers can get a look into the world of Muuto and vice versa.”
Digging into these considerations or sense of insecurities that young designers may have when presenting their work to seasoned actors in the design industry, Kasper Kyster believes that there is value to be found in preserving the uniquely youthful outlook that aspiring designers have: “The naivety and curiosity of young designers is an element that we find to be incredibly important to both protect and amplify. What we mean by this is that they should be uncompromising in their work and dare to be that very thing and not what they think that the industry wants.”
Kasper Kyster Looking towards the designs that are produced in the world today, we sometimes find ourselves missing a higher degree of courage, progression and experimentation and this is something that we’d like for Ukurant to drive forward.
Being a project that collaborates with new photographers, graphic designers and spatial architects each year, it seems apparent that the exchange of ideas and driving each other forward lies at the heart of Ukurant.
On that, Schytte notes: “We felt that there was a need to emphasize the value of cross-disciplinary collaboration in the industry. During our time at the design school, we experienced a fruitful network between students of different disciplines and believe that the concept of a strong community is something that can turn the output by young creatives into something even more impactful.”
Looking towards Muuto being a supporter of the 2021 exhibition, Krabbe Munck says: “The title of this year’s exhibition is Ukurant Perspectives, coming from this idea of showing the new perspectives of emerging designers across multiple disciplines, uncovering experimental takes on ceramics, glass, furniture and textile,” and remarks: “We’d like for Ukurant to become a pressure chamber for talent, foregoing the competitiveness and sharp elbows entirely and instead push each other forward in a shared momentum.”
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The Ukurant Perspectives 2021 Exhibition will be open from 16th to 26th of September 2021 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ukurant Perspectives 2021
Amaliegade 38
DK-1256 Copenhagen K
Adding to that, an artwork by Ukurant alumni Davide Ronco & Pablo Dorigo Sempere for Muuto will be displayed at both the Muuto HQ during 3daysofdesign alongside the Muuto collection as well as at the Ukurant Perspectives 2021 exhibition.
Muuto HQ
Østergade 36-38
DK-1100 Copenhagen K