Matilda: London Design Festival

Celebrating Australian design at the London Design Festival, this exhibition featured many designs well-loved at home but unknown internationally – until now.

Thirteen Australian designers launched in the United Kingdom under the catchily named umbrella brand Matilda during the 2010 London Design Festival. There was a lot of buzz about the event, partly because the invitation mentioned the presence of Australian chef Bill Granger (who was launching a new book). Though the canapés were acceptable, many were disappointed that Granger’s talented hands had not been near them. Despite this, there was a lot to enjoy among the eye-catching designs on show.

Australia is perhaps best known for its endless space and enviable (often beach-based) lifestyle. Its design scene, however, is little known abroad. Not for a lack of fresh, innovative and strong design, but because it hasn’t been supported and promoted in the long term, says Matilda founder Jenni Carbins, an Australian based in the UK since 2005. “There has never been any significant weight put behind it. Scandinavian governments ensure their countries are represented every year. This project was entirely privately funded.” Carbins also believes that it takes persistence and time to develop a brand - she has plans for Matilda to be in it for the long haul and to continue working with the designers it represents year-round.

The Matilda exhibition included many pieces popular in Australia, but new to the London audience. It included the utilitarian brushed aluminium jugs and goblets by Fink (Robert Foster); the recently launched and arresting white, red and black Antler lighting range by Volker Haug; Argentina-born Alexander Lotersztain’s sleek and sustainable Hext table and stools; Brian Steendyk’s giant coral outdoor seating and planters; and Marc Pascal’s Calder-esque floral-themed lamps and lights.

Some products could only have come from Australia, such as Husque’s glossy vessels made out of recycled and treated macadamia shells. English-born designer Julie Paterson (present at the launch) makes furnishing fabrics, wallpaper and upcycled furniture pieces under the label Cloth, inspired by the scale and austerity of the Australian landscape (her studio is three blocks from the beach). Paterson finds the pace of life in Australia congenial to her but, above all, she was attracted to the sense of freedom. “The design industry twenty years ago in Australia was very much in its infancy - I was part of the first wave of designers. It was liberating.”

More conceptual were the offerings by designer Ilias Fotopoulos (known simply as Ilias). His Listen and Record wallpaper features braille text made out of black, red and white gloss and felt that a visually impaired person can read, but that a sighted person cannot - an interesting reversal of conventional roles.

Last but not least, Trent Jansen’s Kissing and Nuptial pendant lights were simple, striking and, in many ways, profound. “I think what makes these pieces interesting is their narrative nature, the fact that they are two pieces telling a single narrative,” says Jansen, who was also at the launch. Jansen is still looking for a manufacturer for the lights and says that production in Australia is limited and frustrating at times.

Given that Carbins’s aim for Matilda is to create “ongoing commercial opportunities for designers” in the European and international market, Jansen’s frustration may soon be set to diminish. Carbins says that Matilda will be even bigger next year (up to thirty designers). Based on its first outing, there is much to look forward to.

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Published online: 15 Jun 2011
Words: Giovanna Dunmall
Images: Peter Schiazza

Issue

Artichoke, March 2011

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