beautiful work

Sixty product design students from four major Czech art universities have teamed up with masters of traditional crafts to create a unique set of applied objects. These blend the young designers' sensitive takes on traditional shapes and decors with precise craftsmanship of experienced masters.

The project presents Czech craftsmanship and folk art in new contexts, offers a specific perspective in relation to original folk art, provides an alternative to the concept of today's interior design, and addresses the current demand for authentic and sustainable objects.

The project intends to convince young people that contemporary craftsmanship can serve as a model for a new lifestyle of returning to nature, the need for self-anchoring, and a sense of pride in one's traditions. The project also aims to raise awareness about traditional handicrafts among potential successors.

Czech, Moravian and Silesian folk art is presented in the form of valuable artefacts or functional, highly aesthetic products of home and clothing culture, and shown in the context of contemporary design, architecture and fashion.
The exhibited objects can be perceived through the lens of newly established relationships. Each object on display represents the relationship between two people - a young designer and a master of traditional crafts. Among the more than forty artefacts, visitors can admire, for example, the work of Adam Kvaček from Prague's Academy of Arts,

Architecture, and Design (UMPRUM), who focused on the processing of typha and created a modern urban handbag. Anastazia Mazur from the Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem designed an object showing a sculpture-like concept: a mirror knitted from reed , which can be used as a an impressive and dominant feature of a modern interior.

The exhibition presents old techniques dating deep back to history yet now practiced by only the last few masters of traditional crafts. These include knitting with typha, embroidery with fish scales, smoked pottery and scraping of traditional leather shoes. "In this project, it was essential for the students to encounter the reality of disappearing crafts and to find a way to preserve them t for the future. The artists managed to transform the techniques to serve the needs of the 21st century. This could never have been achieved without the opportunity to work with the masters of the old technologies, learning about them and the craft. Thanks to this, students gained a new perspective and respect for traditional crafts", says Michal Froněk, head of the Product Design Studio at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague (UMPRUM).

Cattails Propaganda, 2022
Adam Kvaček

Craftwork & Consultation: Iveta Dandová, Adam Kvaček

Technique: cattail weaving
Material: cattails, canvas
60 × 40 cm

Nami Series, 2022
Anastasia Mazur

Faculty of Art and Design
- J. E. Purkyně University in Ústí n. Labem
Craftwork & Consultation: Barbora Hrdinová, Anastasia Mazur

Technique: traditional basket weaving
Material: basket reed, pigmented with natural walnut dye
110 × 68 × 9 cm

Untitled, 1982 – ongoing
Jaroslav Prášil

Technique: Belgian lace / bobbin lace

Material: hand-spun linen and synthetic fiber, wood
(24) 18.5 × 9 cm
Frames: (2) 30.5 × 50.8 cm
(3) 30.5 × 43.8 cm

For You, 2024
Jaroslava Příhodová

Technique: cut and carved eggshell – combined technique
Materials: eggshell, hair, nickel, stainless steel, sterling silver, rubber, and plastic
(3): 5.7 × 4.4 × 6.3 cm

Advent Masks, 2024
Michal Cimala

Craftwork: Jaroslav Frencl, Michal Cimala

Technique: hand-carving and fire-scorching
Material: oak wood
(3): 45 × 32 × 6 cm

Iron-Cast Baskets, 2022
Robert Vlasák

Technique: multiple-part mold casting
Material: iron-carton alloy
(2) 26 × 26 × 11 cm; 29 × 29 × 13 cm

Embroidered Shirt, 2022
Tereza Bláhová

Craftwork & Consultation: Klára Halíčková

Technique: Horňácko-region embroidery
Material: linen cloth, cotton floss
52 × 65 cm

Bowl, 2022
Zuzana Markesová

Faculty of Art and Design - J. E. Purkyně University in Ústí n. Labem
Craftwork & Consultation: Lada Borecká

Technique: wire work
Material: binding wire, aluminum
38 × 38 × 14 cm

Blouse with Bobbin Lace, 2023
Kateřina Plamitzerová

Technique: bobbin lace
Material: 100% linen thread
38 × 44 cm

Hand-Woven Carpet, Design from the 1920s, first reproduced since its creation in 2020
Ladislav Sutnar

Craftwork: Moravian Tapestry Manufactory

Technique: hand-woven techniques
Material: New Zealand wool
200 × 300 cm