An international touring exhibition prepared by the Institut for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) and curator Volker Albus, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut and Massey University’s College of Creative Arts.

An international touring exhibition prepared by the Institut for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) and curator Volker Albus, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut and Massey University’s College of Creative Arts.

Quirky interpretations of everyday objects bring a ‘serious lightness’ to this exhibition. With 148 objects from more than 60 designers and studios – 47 of them based in Germany and 20 in other European countries – the products on display illustrate the great diversity and the humour that can emerge when the usual rules of convention are deliberately subverted.

Lifebelts turn into bottle coolers, brushes into lampshades; the unconventional design interpretations offered in this exhibition not only provoke astonishment but challenge us to reflect on and review our general expectations and traditional notions of 'normal'. Such ‘breaks with the power of convention’ document the socio-cultural changes that can be observed in all areas of our daily lives, in phenomena such as mobility, migration, changing nutritional habits and more.

The international aspect of this discourse on contemporary design is twofold: firstly through complementing the works of the German designers with examples from designers in Denmark, France, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain.

And secondly ifa has invited the College of Creative Arts at Massey University, to add objects by four New Zealand designers who have approached ‘conventional’ design tasks in a somewhat different way.

Venue: The Great Hall, Museum Building, Massey University, Entrance D, Buckle St, Wellington

Dates: 1 - 30 May 2010

Times: 9am-5pm weekdays, 10am-4pm weekends

Symposium: Sat 1 May. 2 -4 pm Theatrette 10A02, Museum Building