For one of the Passionswege projects of Vienna Design Week, London-based designer Mathias Hahn was assigned to work with Staud's, a Viennese producer of fine vegetable and fruit preserves.
In order to enforce the exchange of expertise, the preservation and further development of knowledge and the virtuosity in craftsmanship and manufacturing, the Passionswege ("pilgrimage ways") program is an integral part of Vienna Design Week. Six months before the festival, the organizers invite nine different designers to collaborate with local Viennese producers and businesses.
The Passionswege involve the use of workshops, experimentation in situ, and interventions in local businesses and shops. Meanwhile, the partnerships are completely free of the pressure to generate commercially viable products (although we don't exclude this as an option).
Hahn created an intriguing installation in which he approached the world of Staud's by poetically addressing color, material and the meaning of preserving for winter time. Each of the various vessels on display seemed to capture all the good stuff that summer has to offer; almost like a time capsule, recallable during a long, cold winter.
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