13 December 2016

Touring along historical and contemporary designs with the 'Handicraft' show curators at MAK in Vienna

Today, the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts MAK invited to the preview of the exhibition 'Handicraft - Traditional Skills in the Digital Age' together with the curators Tina Zickler and Rainald Franz (image in the middle) before it opens to the public in the evening. Until 9 April 2017, visitors have the chance to get a glimpse of the challenge of working with diverse materials - from textiles, leather over wood to silver, iron, florals - and how artisans bring them into forms for the mass market, special client segments (for example medical instruments) or for the high-end market such as haute couture by Chanel or silver vases designed by Zaha Hadid for Wiener Silber Manufactur.

The exhibition throws even light on the social, legal and economic aspects of handicrafts such as with medals, law texts and business researches. The two gold, a silver and a bronze medal (image second row, left) were won by members of the skillsAustria team at the latest WorldSkills in São Paulo (Brazil) in 2015. The medals give an impression of the sports-like mastership challenges in handicrafts. A historical law book and most recent researches on the impact of education on the success of companies open the mind for the importance of smart governmental regulations. The 'Handicraft' show has six chapters; at the 5th exhibition section with the title 'Quality and Excellence', the curators focused on the exploration of the history and the development of handicraft until nowadays by showing for example fashion, hats or porcelain of former days in comparison with contemporary designs.


more culture>