Is it a contradiction to say this is your last chance to be cutting edge? While it's true that last year was Ireland's Year of Design, its flagship exhibition, Liminal, has returned home after touring the world: Eindhoven, Milan, New York and Dublin; for a final hurrah at the National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny (until July 3rd nationalcraftgallery.ie).
Apart from bigging up the design sector as an employer and income generator – always a good idea when justifying funding – what the Year of Design showed was how good design in Ireland is a glorious mixture of traditional and cutting edge.
This is very good news for those of us who like to mix and match and revel in new ideas, but still get carried away by handwoven rugs and lovely ceramics. After all, life would be pretty uncomfortable if you had to live uncompromisingly and entirely in either the past, present or future. So, at Liminal, you can see the timeless elegance of Derek Wilson's ceramics while (like me) fantasising about how you'd be a better person if you sipped your morning coffee from one of his perfectly pure cups, instead of necking it from an old chipped mug (derekwilsonceramics.com for stockists).
You can also imagine being the type to fling on Love & Robots' incredible Plumage, a 3D-printed, customisable cape (above), made in collaboration with Abbey Theatre costume designer Niamh Lunny, for your trip to the pub (loveandrobots.com). Other cutting-edge collaborations include a brilliant chair and coffee table by Notion with Mourne Textiles (designbynotion.com/mournetextiles.com); and Claire Anne O'Brien's ultra funky knitting wool chairs, stools, and rug made with Ceadogán Rugs (claireanneobrien.com; ceadogan.ie).
There's plenty for industry buffs and technology junkies to get excited about, but the real joy of Liminal lies in realising that being cutting edge also involves taking the best of the past and updating it for a beautiful future. One more highlight? The Souvenir Project: put together by Jonathan Legge of Makers & Brothers (makersandbrothers.com), it's a range of new Irish souvenirs, and not a bog-oak wishing well in sight.
