Welcome to the Collab Journal. Collab collects and shares design from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Join us as we continue to explore the ever-evolving world of design from the past, present, and future.
FROM THE CO-CHAIRS
FROM THE CO-CHAIRS
Welcome to the Collab Journal
November 2024
Dear Friends,
Japanese design has held a place in our collective Collab hearts since 1986, when the first Design Excellence Award honored the extraordinary George Nakashima. While much in the world has changed in the last five decades since its founding, Collab’s dedication to presenting the best in design is unwavering.
This year, it is our great pleasure to celebrate Naoto Fukasawa as the 2024 Collab Design Excellence Award honoree. Naoto Fukasawa’s in-person, illustrated presentation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art will occur on Thursday, December 12th, followed by the opening of the designer’s first major US exhibition. We hope that you will join us for this special occasion to celebrate Naoto Fukasawa as he is presented with this distinguished honor by Collab and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The exhibition Naoto Fukasawa: Things in Themselves (12/13/2024 – 4/20/2024) on view in Collab Gallery 219, features furniture, objects and electronics that illustrate the designer’s philosophy of longevity, accessibility and subtle humor over novelty or blatant commercialism. It is stunning and we know that you will love it.
This edition of the Journal includes work by national design school students responding to a design prospectus inspired by Fukasawa in the Collab Student Design Competition; images from a members’ behind-the-scenes tour of RAIR Philly; and images from the DesignPhiladelphia / Collab panel discussion “Bridging the Future: Design Education and K-12 Innovation Pipelines.”
Consider becoming a member of Collab, connecting at Collab events, following us on Instagram (@collabpma) and Facebook (collab.philamuseum), and sharing your own design ideas.
Eileen Tognini and Jermaine Jenkins, Collab Co-Chairs
Featured Posts
Take a Seat: Understanding the Modern Chair
Visitors to the Collab gallery at the Philadelphia Museum of Art have been treated this summer to a small yet mighty exhibition relegated to modern and contemporary chairs. Collab board member Rosemarie Fabien interviewed Alisa Chiles, Assistant Curator of European Decorative Arts, about the exhibit, which is currently on view until October 20, 2024.
Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place
Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place exhibit at the Collab Gallery in the PMA.
Curating “Cultivating Design: Recent Acquisitions”
This installation highlighted some recent additions to the museum’s collection of modern and contemporary design, ranging from furniture, textiles, and tableware to posters and consumer electronics.
Signs of the Times
For the first time in the 35-year history of Philadelphia’s Mural Arts program, a collaborative project has entered the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and been featured in a gallery exhibition.
Circus: Bouroullec Designs
Explore the work of brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, leading figures in contemporary industrial design and recipients of the 2021 Collab Design Excellence Award.
Keeping up with Designs for Different Futures
Human-digital interaction, climate change, political and social inequality and more. A look back at this groundbreaking exhibition.
Donna Corbin on Patricia Urquiola
An interview with Patricia Urquiola and the making of Between Craft and Industry.
Art for the People: A Conversation with Conrad Benner
Curator Kathryn Hiesinger speaks with the StreetsDept.com founder on the power and necessity of public art.
Photo by Linette Messina Kielinski
In memoriam
At Home in a Changing World
A look back at the life and times for Sir Terence Conran.
50 Years of Collab
See all the highlights from the 2019 anniversary celebration.
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