Critical Tide – Critical Design and the Ocean

Co-curated with Dr. Pirjo Haikola, Dr. Gillian Russell, Gero Grundmann

Design Museum Helsinki, Finland

6.9.–27.10.2019

The Critical Tide exhibition at the Design Museum Helsinki brings together projects and works that explore the sea and the potential for positive impact through design. Critical Tide combines research, activism and community engagement within the exhibition space.

At a time of deep ecological crises, Critical Tide opens our eyes to the urgent issues our oceans face and showcase creative ways of intervening. The exhibition challenges visitors to experiment, learn and immerse themselves while calling for a complete redesign of our relationship with the seas.

The exhibition was created by a multi-professional, international team: Julia Lohmann (designer and professor at Aalto University based in Helsinki), Pirjo Haikola (designer, scuba diving instructor and researcher at RMIT in Melbourne), Gillian Russell (designer, curator and researcher at Emily Carr University in Vancouver) and Gero Grundmann (designer and illustrator based in Helsinki).

The Critical Tide exhibition presents eight different projects and works that visitors can view, hear, test, or touch:

– Aquatocene – Subaquatic quest for serenity
Robertina Šebjanič

– Baltic Characters
Gero Grundmann, Dr. Pirjo Haikola, John Nurminen Foundation

– Department of Seaweed – an open seaweed laboratory
‍Julia Lohmann

– Modular Artificial Reef Structure, MARS
‍Alex Goad

– Hair Mats
Matter of Trust

– Ocean Confessional
Pete Fung and Samein Shamsher

– Radical Ocean Futures
Dr. Andrew Merrie

– Sea Chair
Studio Swine (Super Wide Interdisciplinary New Explorers)

Text: Design Museum Helsinki

The Critical Tide exhibition later travelled to Brussels, to be shown at the European Committee of the Regions as part of Finland‘s EU presidency from 3.12.2019–15.1.2020.

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