New design exhibition at the Röhsska Museum

The new permanent exhibition Design Stories showcases design icons, unique crafted works and fashion from the past 150 years. The exhibition spans an entire floor of the museum and features over 500 objects from the museum’s collection. The exhibition opens on November 9, marking that all of Röhsska Museum permanent exhibitions now is open to the public.

‘With Design Stories, we are reopening the entire ground floor to visitors. We offer a journey through design, crafts and fashion from the late nineteenth century to the present day, with a focus on contemporary Nordic design. We present well-known design classics, hidden treasures from the collections and newly acquired contemporary items, showcasing the remarkable diversity encompassed by the concept of design,’ says Museum Director Nina Due.

From Voi to Westwood
Design Stories spans 800 square metres and five galleries, featuring everything from a modern Voi electric scooter and a work examining Black Lives Matter by artist Sasha Huber, to a dress by fashion icon Vivienne Westwood addressing environmental destruction. In addition to impressive objects, sketches, material samples, films and interviews, the exhibition allows the public to explore the stories behind the items in the collection, such as why Brio’s wooden toys were so groundbreaking, how a queue-ticket machine in a department store can encourage purchases, and how the Ericofon, also known as the Cobra Telephone, got its iconic design.

‘We have created a thematic exhibition where objects from different time periods are placed side by side to reveal new and often unexpected stories. The exhibition addresses themes such as consumption, innovation, change, creativity, efficiency and belonging in relation to design. The goal has been to broaden the understanding of what design is and can be,’ says Johanna Agerman Ross, who has led the content work and is Chief Curator at the Design Museum in London.

The Röhsska Museum’s Collection Opens the Doors to Collaboration
Parts of the exhibition will change over time, and objects will be replaced to ensure the exhibition remains current. This means that significantly more than 500 items will be displayed throughout the exhibition’s run. There is also a room specifically dedicated to collaboration – the Super Ö Studio – where partners are invited to explore and delve into the museum’s design collection and the themes of the exhibition.

‘Design Storiesis historiography in constant motion. We are pleased and proud to reopen the ground floor for the public and intriguing collaborations, and to make the contemporary part of Röhsska Museum’s design, fashion and craft collection accessible,’ says Nina Due, Museum Director.

INFO: Design Stories

• The exhibition spans the entire ground floor, meaning that all of Röhsska Museum’s permanent exhibitions are finally open to the public.
• It features over 500 objects from the late nineteenth century to the present day, including 100 newly acquired items.
• The exhibition includes industrial design, crafts, fashion, furniture and product design, as well as graphic design.
• The content of the exhibition has been developed in a collaboration between Röhsska Museum’s curators and project managers with Johanna Agerman Ross, Chief Curator at Design Museum London.
• The exhibition has been designed by the London-based architectural firm OMMX.
• The museum has engaged in conversation with hundreds of individuals to discuss selection, design perspectives and appeal, with a special focus group consisting of secondary school students.
• In the autumn of 2024, the museum will work with reference classes to create a new educational programme for nursery and secondary schools, launching in spring 2025.
• The first partner in the Super Ö Studio is Kulturlabbet, which will be present at the exhibition’s opening.
• The exhibition replaces Röhsska Museum’s previous permanent exhibition, The Röhsska Museum´s Design History, which closed in 2022.
• Opens on 9 November 2024 at Röhsska Museum.

PRESS PREVIEW
Röhsska Museum, 7 Nov 2024.
More information and press invitations will be provided, and additional press images will be published in the press room ahead of the opening. For interview requests and advance reports, please contact karin.e.andersson@kultur.goteborg.