Oh how I wish I’d found about about London Design Festival sooner. Next year I will be booking an entire week off work to make the most of the exciting events around the capital.
With little time left before the close of the festival I hot-footed it over to London town last Saturday and spent some time in the V&A and surrounding area. There were plenty of places I had to miss owing to time constraints but I’ll be looking them up in other ways. What I did see, however, was really interesting.
Kvadrat presents Textile Field by Ronan & Erwan Bourollec
Kvadrat presents Textile Field by Ronan & Erwan Bourollec
As soon as I arrived at The V&A I headed straight to The Raphael Room to see Textile Field by Ronan & Erwan Bourollec. The grand gallery space, built in 1865 houses the Raphael cartoons of 1515-16, depicting the Acts of St. Peter & St. Paul, including a giant altar piece at one end. This church-like room is transformed with the inclusion of Textile Field. Visitors are invited to lounge on the soft textile fabric and interact with the Raphael works in a new way. The installation creates a greater sense of community in the space, where visitors can sit and socialise, but still have the ability to contemplate the works around them. I thoroughly enjoyed my time reclining on stripy field and watching other people considering the space.
Whilst at The V&A, I also had a look around the Power of Making Exhibition. This show, curated by Daniel Charny, celebrates the role of making in our lives by presenting an eclectic selection of over 100 exquisitely crafted objects. Interpretation and films shown in the gallery space consider various themes involved in ‘making’ – mastering a skill and the pleasurable process of making. I particularly liked the idea of being ‘In the Zone’ and how making something can be somewhat of a meditative experience.
