+48 Social Club was a café and club set up in the very heart of Tokyo especially for Tokyo Designers Week.
The club was a shared platform for presenting not only furniture and objects designed and produced by Polish designers and firms, but also posters, books, magazines, board games and packaging. It was intended as a place which gathers and presents the most interesting independent cultural and artistic initiatives of Poland's large cities from the past few years.
+48 Social Club was also a space where products, graphic designs, music, film and cultural initiatives could mix in a natural and clear way. The phenomenon of 'social clubs' is deeply rooted in the tradition of Polish modernism dating back to the 1950s – a period which young designers refer to with more and more frequency. In this light, the club became simultaneously a pretext to present Polish design and cultural life in the most unpretentious, informal atmosphere possible, and a reference to the history of Polish design, which is returning in the works of contemporary designers and artists.
The project also included a rich programme of events targeted at various groups: design students, professionals, children, and the wider public. Polish designers and illustrators – Ola Niepsuj, Edgar Bąk and Beza Studio – led a series of workshops. Within the film programme, the following documentary films were screened: Political Dress, Beats of Freedom and Neon. Visitors could listen to Polish funk music and hear stories about Polish vinyl albums, as well as take part in musical workshops and enjoy a concert by the Małe Instrumenty (Small Instruments) band. The Japanese and international public was served Polish snacks and drinks, as well as given an opportunity to listen to records published by the Lado ABC and Bôłt Records independent labels. There was also a children’s corner on the club’s premises.
Tokyo Designers Week is the biggest event dedicated to design in this part of the globe. It gathers and presents the best examples of architecture, as well as interior, product and graphic design from all around the world. Each year, the event attracts over 100,000 visitors, many travelling from Asia, Europe or the Americas specially for the occasion. In 2014 Tokyo Designers Week was dedicated to four main subjects: design, art, fashion and music.
The designers whose works were presented at the exhibition included: AZE Design, Katarzyna Bogucka, Cyber Kids on Real, Przemek Dębowski, Fontarte, Małgorzata Gurowska, Maria Jeglińska, Kafti Design, Kosmos Projekt, Jan Lutyk, Magdalena Łapińska, Mamastudio, Manuka Studio, Roman Modzelewski (Vzór), Moonmadness, Bartosz Mucha, Magdalena Piwowar, Robert Plundra, Puff Buff, Studio Rygalik, Tabanda, Aleksandra Waliszewska, Filip Zagórski, and Oskar Zięta.
Especially for the project, several of the best Polish illustrators (such as Malwina Konopacka, Agata Endo Nowicka, Tymek Jezierski, Ada Buchholc, and Jan Bajtlik) were asked to draw their own interpretations of selected products presented at the exhibition. The illustrations were published as a limited edition set of postcards, as well as on the project’s website.
28/10/2014 (Tuesday)
18:00~ Opening party (DJ Soul Service live)
29/10/2014 (Wednesday)
Documentary films screening: "Political Dress", "Beats of Freedom" and "Neon"
30/10/2014 (Thursday)
18:00 ~ 19:00 DJ Soul Service - lecture about Polish vinyl records with funk music
19:15 ~ 20:45 Panel discussion about Polish design
31/10/2014 (Friday)
13:00 ~ Product design workshop with Beza Projekt
17:30 ~ Product design workshop with Beza Projekt
1/11/2014 (Saturday)
11:00 ~ Graphic design workshop with Edgar Bąk (for professionals)
2/11/2014 (Sunday)
13:00 ~ Illustration workshop with Aleksandra Niepsuj (for children)
17:30 ~ Illustration workshop with Aleksandra Niepsuj
3/11/2014 (Monday)
14:00~ Music workshop with Small Instruments group
19:00~ Live Small Instruments
Organizers: Culture.pl, Design Critique Platform
Inaugural partners: Polish Institute in Tokyo, Trade and Investment Promotion Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Tokyo
Curators: Agata Szydłowska, Aleksandra Ubukata, Aureliusz Kowalczyk
Cooperation: Agata Opieka, Julia Missala, Emiko Hayakawa, Yuko Minamide
See also:
The Design Critique Platform, established in 2012 by Agata Szydłowska and Rene Wawrzkiewicz, deals with promoting and supporting knowledge and critical reflection on contemporary design and visual culture in Central and Eastern Europe. Its actions step beyond traditional divisions between high and low or official and vernacular culture – instead they focus on design as a cultural practice and on the emanation and trends of social, political and economical phenomenon. The platform’s initiatives include organizing exhibitions, conferences and lectures, research on design and visual culture, and publishing books and articles.