The artists also designed the Good Model / Dobry Wzór exhibition for the Institute of Industrial Design, the New Technologies: Discover Poland exhibition for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Polish Red Dots / Polskie Red Doty exhibition, which was commissioned by the Polish Patent Office.
Apart from large scenery projects, installations and furniture, Niemywska Grynasz Studio also creates things like SSSTOLIK, which is a piece of furniture and a toy for children aged 2 to 5 in one. A child may pull strings, bands and threads through holes drilled in the table top. When the child is done playing, SSSTOLIK may serve as a coffee table.
“We like people. For us, working with people and for people is an additional advantage of being a designer” – says Marta Niemywska. As a team they try to prepare fully for each project, which requires time and commitment. “When we were making a design of a product for Arab countries, we watched Arabic films, we ate Arabic food, we listened to their music, we attended lectures at the Traveler’s Club, to get at least a little bit in touch with the Muslim culture, to get a feel of their aesthetics and to understand certain cultural contexts”.
Apart from working for large institutions, the designers value collaborations with small, just-beginning brands. “There’s something very exciting about working with young companies. A high number of restrictions raises the bar and results in an interesting challenge” emphasizes Niemywska.
Niemywska Grynasz Studio has a fixed team of four persons which includes Małgorzata Ćwiek and Hanna Ferenc-Hilsden. The team also collaborates with freelance designers.
Author: Katarzyna Zacharska, July 2014
Translated by: Marek Kępa
Competitions and awards:
2013 – the Młoda Polska scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (Marta Niemywska)
2012 – 1st place in the competition Global Festival Tent / Globalny Namiot Festiwalowy organized by the Polish Humanitarian Organization (Marta Niemywska and Dawid Grynasz)
2011 – the Warsaw Institute of Design’s nomination of the Modulor sofa for the award Dobry Wzór 2011 (Marta Niemywska and Dawid Grynasz)
- 1st place in the competition Young Design organized by the Institute of Industrial Design (Marta Niemywska)
2009 – the finale showing of the collection Rokokko, Re-act Fashion Show 2009 (Marta Niemywska)
2008 – the scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (Marta Niemywska)
- 1st place in the Nokia Only Planet competition (Marta Niemywska)
- 1st place in the competition A New Offering in Warsaw’s Public Space for a Guest of the Euro 2012 / Nowa oferta dla gościa Euro 2012 w przestrzeni publicznej Warszawy (Marta Niemywska)
- 2nd place in the competition A Conceptual Design of a Modern Souvenir from Warsaw Linked to the Person of Frederic Chopin / Projekt koncepcyjny nowoczesnej pamiątki z Warszawy,związanej z osobą Fryderyka Chopina
- the competition Wall Unit / Meblościanka organized by the firm Vox in Poznań, the design of the x+x wall unit, distinction (Marta Niemywska)
- a distinction at a competition organized by the firm Vox for the design Ssstolik (Marta Niemywska)
2007 – 1st place in the competition Absolut Elements 2007 (Marta Niemywska)
- 2nd place in the scholarship competition of Polish Television Creative Valley – Design (Marta Niemywska)
Selected exhibitions and festivals:
2013
- the Skrzyżowanie Kultur festival, Warsaw – group exhibition
- the Kordegarda Gallery, Warsaw – the Residency of the Forms and Shapes Foundation – group exhibition
- the Wroclove festival, Wrocław – group exhibition
- Domiday, Warsaw – group exhibition
- the Cieszyn Castle, Urban Gardening – group exhibition
- the Cieszyn Castle, Womanly Design – group exhibition
- the Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków (MOCAK), Everything, for Ever – Today. Balanced Polish and British Design / Wszystko, na zawsze – dziś. Polski i brytyjski design zrównoważony – group exhibition
2012
- Łódź Design Festival, PG13 – group exhibition
- Łódź Design Festival, Design for Children / Dizajn dla dzieci – group exhibition
- Łódź Design Festival, EXCHANGE 2012. the Polish way of design, the Georgian way of design / WYMIANA 2012. Dizajn po polsku, dizajn po gruzińsku – group exhibition
- Design: the Polish way/the Georgian way / Dizajn: Po polsku/po gruzińsku, the Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw – group exhibition
- Fishing / Wędkowanie, an artistic action organized by the Forms and Shapes Foundation, the installation Big Net / Siecisko, Moczydło Park, Warsaw – group exhibition
- RePlay, organizer: NO MUDA, the Urban Tissue / Tkanka miejska seats, Warszawa
- RePlatz, a recycling, winter playground organized by NO MUDA, the installations FLOE / KRA and Iceberg / Góra lodowa, Warsaw
2011
- In Good Form / W dobrej formie – the Polish Patent Office, Warsaw
- Design in Poland – Transition to Modernity, the Polish Patent Office, Geneva, Switzerland – group exhibition
- Mushroom Picking / Grzybobranie, an artistic action organized by the Forms and Shapes Foundation, the installation Moss and Dew / Mech i Rosa, Warsaw
- Good Model / Dobry Wzór, a post-competition exhibition, the Institute of Industrial Design, Warsaw
- the installation NOSE / NOS – an object, a slide, a climbing wall and a hideout. This installation was created as a part of EUgeniusz, a playground honouring the Inauguration of the Polish Presidency in the EU council. Organizers: the Forms and Shapes Foundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the National Audiovisual Institute, Warsaw
- Re.product 3 / Re.produkt 3, the Institute of Industrial Design in Warsaw – group exhibition
- International Design Festival Berlin, Home Sweet Home, Berlin – group exhibition
2010
- Polish Design / Polski Design, an exhibition of the magazine ELLE DECORATION, the Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw – group exhibition
- Łódź Design Festival, Home, Sweet Home, Łódź – group exhibition
- Warsaw Design Week, the group exhibition Proecodesign / Proekodizajn; Warszawa
- Arena Design Poznań, the group exhibition Proecodesign / Proekodesign; Poznań
2009
- Warsaw Under Construction / Warszawa w Budowie, the Museum of Modern Art In Warsaw
- the Anders Hotel, Łódź, the finale showing of the collection of dresses Rokoko, Re-act Fashion Show
- the 1500m2 do wynajęcia gallery, Warsaw, Aequor
- Łódź Design Festival 2009 – group exhibition
- BWA Gallery, Wrocław, USEFULL/USELESS – group exhibition
- The University of Warsaw Library, Warsaw, My World Is Eco / Mój świat jest eko – group exhibition
- Furniture Fair, Ostróda, the group exhibition PG13
- The Cieszyn Castle, the group exhibition PG13, Exactly / W rzeczy samej
2008
- the RGB Gallery in Berlin, the installation FREUD
- the International Poznań Fair, the exhibition concluding the workshop Meblościanka 2008 – group exhbition
- the café-club Bambini di Praga in Warsaw – group exhibition
- International Design Festival Berlin – group exhibition
2007
- Due Amici in Bratislava, the post-competition exhibition Absolut Elements