Small company for mechanical and manual wood processing specialized in manufacturing and processing of rare form of partly fossilized timber bog oak, which has even been adopted as a company name. Established as a family business, handed down from father to son, Carpentry Franjić tracks more then 6 decades long experience.
In the vanguards of the art and design worlds, there’s a remarkable interest for traditional techniques that, due to many reasons, lost their appeal at the start of the 20th century. The renewed interest is remarkable, as the crafts had largely turned obsolete since the industrial revolution. Moreover, where craftsmanship was still cherished, low wage countries provided cheaper alternatives. In spite of very interesting cultural experiments to win the battle, the fierce competition has caused a closure of many European craft industries in these last decades.
Nearly two and a half decades, since the mid-1990s, crafts have been making a comeback across Europe, even though they have never completely disappeared, despite the predominantly serial mass production. One of the lesser-known facts, for instance, is that traditional craftsmanship played a crucial role in the shaping of the new aesthetics of Italian design between 1945 and 1960 in the period of modernism, which in principle rejected manual production.
MADE IN is a research, design and heritage platform that proposes new collaborative practices and knowledge exchange between the traditional craftspeople and contemporary designers. It engages craftspeople, designers, researchers, curators and theoreticians on a quest to pose relevant questions about the topics of heritage and production in today’s society through research and archiving of local crafts, conducting workshops and residencies and promoting ideas through a travelling exhibition.
The premiere of the Crafts — Design Narratives Travelling Exhibition is scheduled on the 17th February 2020 at 8 p.m. in the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb. The exhibition opening will be followed by Dialogues discursive program with project curators and participants on the 18th February, at 7 p.m. at the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb. Exhibition is organized by the Museum of Arts and Crafts and OAZA Art and Design Collective.