The exhibition Object Of Relationships focuses on the interaction between designers and manufacturers, carefully examining the specific potential and documenting the production process of creating new design objects through dialogue and collaboration. The exhibition is curated by Dima Stefanova, a designer and cultural entrepreneur committed to projects in design, art and social innovation. She is the founder of the educational platform Know-How Show-How, which promotes knowledge exchange and alternative learning methods. Filip Boyadzhiev is the author of the visual layout and exhibition design.

The selected designers within the exhibition explore the specifics of a particular production and come up with products or prototypes inspired by the concept of interconnection. The developed design objects reflect the strengths of the manufacturer based on the available materials, knowledge and assortment. To this end, six designers worked closely with seven manufacturing companies over several months. This is also a kind of attempt to “map” the industrial base in Bulgaria. The interaction between the existing production base and skills accumulated over the years and the new, unintentional outlook of the designer are a field for bold experimentation and building on notions of possibility, leading to surprising results.

“A central aspect in the works of the selected artists is the relationship as a key element. By relationship I mean not only the mechanism that connects a form to the material from which it is made, but also the mechanism that connects the designer to the maker, the form to the body, the object to its surroundings, its social and ecological footprint. These could be solutions that open up possibilities for a variety of forms and uses, as well as for more than a single purpose. A great inspiration for my choice to go in this direction is the work of Spanish designer Jorge Penades.” – Dima Stefanova.