collections

Museums and galleries play a central role in the presentation and appreciation of design. They offer an essential starting point for research into design history, and are thus a key factor in the production of knowledge. A wide range of collection priorities and exhibition practices have been pursued in the countries of the former Eastern bloc and ex-Yugoslavia. It was the arts and crafts museums, first emerging in the nineteenth century, that gradually began to consider the design developments of the day and collect corresponding examples, particularly the Arts and Crafts Museum in Prague. This was where the legendary ‘Design a plastické hmoty’ exhibition took place in 1972, presenting both national and international takes on ‘plastic materials’, i.e. mouldable ones. A special place is held by Slovenia, which saw the establishment not only of the first design biennale in 1964 (still existing today as BIO), but also of Ljubljana’s Museum for Architecture and Design in 1972. However, in most countries, it was only after 1990 that a systematic examination of each country’s own design history began. Many places saw the founding of new museums on the subject, such as in Bratislava (Slovakia) and Eisenhüttenstadt (Germany).
Museums and collections from ten countries are introducing themselves here by each presenting one item from their holdings as cooperation partners of Retrotopia: Design for Socialist Spaces.