Milan Furniture Fair 2006: Riches of Isolation Exhibition

The unique challenges and opportunities that arise from working in creative industries in the most isolated city in the world make it increasingly important for industry and educational institutions to be fully engaged to ensure the best possible advantage to individuals who are the future of Western Australian design. It is in this context that Curtin University of Technology and FORM Contemporary Craft and Design have embarked on a groundbreaking collaborative exhibition, Riches of Isolation.

The project communicates key themes of identity, design and the designer. It examines our remoteness and isolation, unique environment, small but diverse population and abundance of cultural and natural riches as creative spurs leading towards the development of a refreshing, playful and resourceful design culture.

Riches of Isolation is currently on display at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Milan, where it has been the first Western Australian project to ever be invited to participate in this prestigious design fair. Its sure-to-be triumphant return from Italy will be quickly followed by an exhibition at FORM Gallery, opening on April 28.

Riches of Isolation showcases the work of 23 emerging WA designers from both Curtin University's design courses and FORM's Designing Futures industry development training program. The works were selected from a highly competitive pool of submissions by a panel made up of leading design professionals including Jon Goulder, Kim Thornton-Smith, Robert Cook, Geoff Warn and Emma Williamson.

This project will begin to articulate an identity for Western Australian design and enhance dialogue with the international sphere. In beginning to forge a move toward more sustainable career pathways for individual local designers, it is hoped that this project will find a place within the global design arena that celebrates the distinctiveness that is emerging from the challenges and opportunities - our Riches of Isolation.

Riches of Isolation
April 28-May 26 at FORM Gallery,
357 Murray Street, Perth

FORM Gallery: http://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/7442.html

---

---