With that in mind, we’re pleased to announce a two-part event to celebrate and honor designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, the recipients of the 2021 Collab Design Excellence Award. Ordinarily, Collab hosts a gala event for the Design Excellence Awards in November, but we’ve postponed the in-person celebration until May, 2022, and we hope you’ll join us then. 

Meanwhile, the much-anticipated exhibition Circus: Bouroullec Designs will open to the public on November 20th and will remain on view through May 30th of next year. Curated by Jack Hinton, the Museum's Henry P. McIlhenny Curator of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture, this timely project brings the playfully path-breaking work of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec into the rich context of an encyclopedic museum. The metaphor of the circus provides us with a framework for understanding the Bouroullecs’ design practice as a fun-filled but tricky balancing act. In their work, they consider manufacturing and traditional craft, comfort and style, market forces and forces of nature.

This iteration of the Collab Journal includes news of recent acquisitions, a holiday gift guide, a Francophone musical playlist by Collab’s own DJ Madame Duchamp, reflections on this year’s Design Philadelphia programming, and an intriguing example of rapid-response collecting at the PMA. We're also pleased to feature a curator’s-eye-view essay about Circus: Bouroullec Designs from Jack Hinton. Stay tuned on our social channels (Facebook & Instagram) for news of the Collab Student Design Competition, and more information about the festivities planned for May, 2022. 

The circus tent awaits, we’re delighted to welcome you. 

Nicole Carville, Collab Chair