Interview: A Few Good Things curator Paul Makovsky

– by Milly Burroughs

Following positive previous exposure to Norway’s refined breed of contemporary designer, editorial director of Metropolis magazine Paul Makovsky has confidently undertaken the task of curating A Few Good Things: New Designs from Norway. With only a few days to go until the exhibition opens, we took time out to talk to Paul about the North American design market, streamlining our lives and the synergy of craftsmanship and quality. 

About 5 or 6 years ago, I worked on a magazine supplement about Norwegian design and architecture for Metropolis magazine, where I work. The Norwegian consulate was happy with the result and asked me if there was something else we could collaborate on. I thought that since so few Norwegian designers were known in North America, it would be good to show their work in the United States. We started off showing only prototypes, but the feedback was that the prototypes were so popular that retailers and consumers wanted to buy them right away. So, the exhibitions that I did every year eventually evolved into showing both prototypes and products ready for distribution in the United States. For the first exhibition, I also commissioned Snøhetta, the Oslo and New York-based architecture firm to create their first ever product, a blanket for the Norwegian company, Røros Tweed.

I hope that a manufacturer or retailer will pick up each designer’s work. Already from the earlier shows we’ve done, the Museum of Modern Art is carrying works by Runa Klock and Hallgeir Homstvedt, and the retail chain Design Within Reach has also started to carry the work of Norwegian designers. I would say 5 years ago, most retailers in the US were unfamiliar with Norwegian design. Now important stores like ABC Carpet and Home, in addition to big contract furniture companies, are working with some of the designers who have been in my past shows.

I’d say that I’m always in search of the perfect tool. I’m the type of person who will look for the best pen or agenda, try many out, and when I’m happy with it I’ll stick to it. I remember being interested in the books by Marie Kondo – the Japanese master of tidying up. But when I found out that she had a rule that you should throw out all of the paper you have in your home, I thought, “I’m a writer and could never do that.”

Today there’s an energy in the design scene in Oslo, Bergen and elsewhere in Norway, where in the last decade, we’re seeing a generation of emerging talented designers who are working alone (like Lars Beller Fjetland), in couples (Noidoi), and even collaborating in groups, like the Oslo-based design collective Klubben, to create designs that are crafted with meticulous skill.

Below 1: Kristine Five Melvær, Røros tweed blankets, 2: Andreas Bergsaker, Mushi lamps, 3: Sara Skotte, Vei tableware 4: Fimbul, Soft square stool, 5: Anderssen & Voll, Una blankets, 6: Martin Solem, Solem table, 7: Sverre Uhnger, Vert chopping boards, 8: noidoi, Trivet heat mats, 9: Runa Klock, Core lamp