As part of Design Event 07 Inspire Northumberland commissioned a mobile design exhibition; READesign in collaboration with The Keelrow Bookshop in North Shields. This independent bookshop has recently opened and contains a substantial collection of antique design books that will be researched for British domestic iconic items of the past.

The mobile exhibition was housed and transported in a removal van the concept originated from the mobile library model. The exhibition involved the commissioning of three artists Fiona Thompson, Michael Armstrong and Ellen Bell to design three iconics domestic items such as; the teapot, the chair & table, sofa, tablelamp etc for 2007. The designers made the pieces in their own style, the only restriction to be placed on their work was that it should be entirely white in colour so that selected images and text from the books could be projected onto the work. A fourth artist/designer Lindsay Duncanson working in lighting and projection was responsible for translating imagery from the books and projecting it onto the objects.

It is intended by projecting historical images onto contemporary objects this will visually express the history that has been absorbed by contemporary makers and influenced the type of work they make today. This will demonstrate how the way we lived in a domestic space in the past has influenced the way we live now.

The tour was managed by Charlie Arnold the international project manager who is recognized for Trailormade 2004. This tour featured a contemporary silver t@b caravan installed with a contemporary interior designed and made by northern artists, which toured in Northern England and London.

The READesign tour covered a number of exciting destinations across North Tyneside and Northumberland including North Shields Town Centre, Cragside National Trust Park (one of the jewels of Northumberland) Blyth Valley Beach, Ridley Park Blyth, Hexham Town Centre, Keilder Castle, Berwick (as part of the last day of the Berwick Film Festival) and finished with an exhibition at the new £16m Woodhorn Museum, Archives and Country Park.

This innovative tour aimed to raise awareness of design in the context of the theme for Design Event; The way we want to live. Design Event is a fringe event that coincides with the concluding event of Design of the Times 2007 (DoTT07) that was launched in Newcastle in its first year. DoTT07 is a ten year programme that will move cities annually in England and was launched in Newcastle in 2006.

 

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