Admission: Two-day pass: $25 ONLINE
$30 at the door 

The Polish Cultural Institute is proud to support a young Polish designer, Anna Bera, who is one of the 32 finalists of the Launch Pad, which is a part of the WantedDesign in New York, the creative destination for international design community. Organized under marquee events of the NYCxDESIGN, it will take place from May 13 to 16 at the landmark Terminal Stores building on 11th Avenue in West Chelsea’s Historic District. Founded in New York City in 2011 by the curators, Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat, WantedDesign has established itself as a constant and staunch supporter of the U.S. and international design community.

Launch Pad platform is dedicated to independent international designers and small companies who are seeking to manufacture and promote their new products worldwide. This exhibition serves as an inspiring meeting point for designers, manufacturers, buyers, distributors, craftsmen, students, institutions, the press and all design lovers.

Anna Bera will present her debut series of the Earth Stone Wood (ESW), a collection of modular furniture which functions on the border of art and design. The artist creates handcrafted wooden pieces, in short series or as individual items, primarily fabricated from cherry wood and recycled fir wood, with a use of a traditional Japanese shou sugi ban wood burning technique.

Earth Stone Wood is inspired by the form of orthoquartzite rocks which are the stem of one of the oldest mountain ranges in Europe, the Swietokrzyskie Mountains, and are also components of the ancient Slavic megalithic constructions in that region of Poland. The orthoquartzite rock varies in its visual reading depending on the light and perspective. The aim for the dynamic modular spatial relations between the elements is to echo the changeability typical for natural outdoors landscapes into an interior setting. A single piece of furniture can serve as a table, a seat, or a storage unit, while a set of two or more elements can be combined to compose a cabinet; at the same time allowing the user to recline and rest. The designer believes that the mission of a contemporary designer is to create spaces relating to the natural environment and its attributes, such as hidden order, changeability, and sensory richness implemented into the unique Earth Stone Wood forms structural details and its texture.

The Whole Elements is a design studio and a carpentry workshop established by Anna Bera in 2014. The artist creates handcrafted wooden furniture, on the border of art and design, in short series or as unique items. Anna Bera is a designer, visual artist, sculptor, set designer and a carpenter. She graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan. She draws her inspiration from a research on the human relationship with nature, in a biological, cultural and spiritual context. In this process the contact with the material is extremely important for the artist, that is why her studio from the very beginning was strictly associated with the workshop, where she implements all her projects.

The Launch Pad exhibition is organized in collaboration with Culture.pl as a part of the program to promote Polish design worldwide, and with the Polish Cultural Institute New York as well as with the Institute of Design Kielce Castle Hill. The project is also supported by the Bieliny Community, under the patronage of the Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola.