“新的旧物——处于传统与革新张力关系中的设计”展览是德国对外文化关系学院(ifa)以设计领域的独特发展为主题而举办的系列设计展览之一。以“新的旧物”命名的展览力图通过60多件展品展示处于传统与革新张力关系中的设计，借助于一些问题设定如材料、结构、造型、制造与行为艺术生动直观地表现了这些设计的多样性与现实性。来自德国、其它欧洲国家以及美国的45位设计师和设计师团队以及多位中国设计师参加了本次展览，并且通过巡展加深了有关设计的讨论在各地不同对话背景中。
西方的设计史虽然短暂，却也可以称之为成功。它飞快地成为集体性文化理解的固定组成部分，这种理解处于不断地塑造和沟通之中。在西方世界以外的地方，设计不仅作为行业赢得了人们越来越多的关注：成功的设计语汇被不断拷贝和改动，同时，许多设计主题虽然被冠之以“新”的名号，其原型还是来源于历史上的形式语汇，带有特定国家和文化圈的独特烙印，所以“新”的设计实则可以视为对传统设计法则的重新诠释。展览“新的旧物”借助不同的物体和物体组合追问了对于“新的东西”和“旧的东西”这种概念设定，探讨了分离的物体以及新的组合方式。设计师和设计师团队借助于循环利用与再设计，借助设计古典派和对新材料进行传统加工之间的转型，从战略视角和形式-风格视角探讨了“传统”这一主题。
展览“新的旧物”在三个方面传达了在当代设计中这一复杂而全球化的讨论：一方面，普通观众通过观看参展作品可感性而直观地了解展览。其次，在艺术推广领域，展览配备为专业观众量身定制的工作坊，以加强与当地设计圈的对话。最后，这次展览开通了一个博客作为沟通平台，并且记录了在展览当地挑选出来的设计师们的作品。
在此，衷心感谢广州美术学院和北京德国文化中心·歌德学院（中国）对于本次展览的大力支持，更要感谢中方设计师提供的作品，促进不同国度和文化圈之间有关当代设计理念和设计作品的交流。
The exhibition “new olds. Design between Tradition and Innovation” is the latest in a series of design exhibitions in which the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e.V. (ifa) focuses on specific trends in design. “new olds” now presents more than sixty exhibits that explore design between tradition and innovation. The great variety and topicality of the many approaches are bundles around the themes material, construction, configuration, production, and traditional use. Forty-five designers and design teams from Germany, other European countries and the USA, as well as several Chinese designers enter here into an intensive dialogue, and the international nature of the show is further emphasized by its world tour with its connections to the local cultures on site.
Design has a short and highly successful history in the west. It quickly became a key feature of a collective understanding of culture, and is correspondingly appreciated and communicated. Outside the western hemisphere too design is gaining significance, and not just as a profession. What are seen as successful idioms are copied and varied, but many of the motifs that are sold as “new” actually derive from a historical context and formal idiom, and are self-contained products of one country or culture, representing a new interpretation of traditional forms. This exhibition, “new olds”, looks at aspects of the “new” and the “old” in a range of objects and groups of objects, discussing differences and new common ground. Designers today are taking a keen interest in tradition in both a strategic and formal and aesthetic sense-in recycling and redesign, by transforming design classics and using traditional methods for new materials.
The “new olds” exhibition aims to show the international and complex nature of this discourse in contemporary design in three ways. Firstly, we invite the general public to enjoy the visual and sensual presentation of the exhibits. Secondly, the accompanying events and education programme will focus on dialogue in workshops that are tailored to each location of the exhibition tour, and the design experts working there. The third element is documentation of the exhibition in a blog, showing the work of local designers.
I would like to thank Art Museum of GAFA and Goethe-Institut(China) for their strong support for this exhibition, thank more for the works provided by Chinese designers. They will further facilitate dialogue and the exchange of ideas on contemporary theory and design practice in a variety of nations and cultures.
