INTRODUCTION
May Jane from Concepta-Barcelona, will tell you the story of her recent event at the Qubique Design Fair in Berlin.
ACTION
“I arrived in Berlin on the 26th of October with two chairs from our collection for the celebration of the Qubique Design Fair. The management of Qubique has a great reputation and prestige stemming from the world renowned Bread&Butter Fashion Fair. Since I started my own company, Concepta, just a few months ago my intention was to infiltrate this event in an attempt to generate some brand awareness and finding agents that were interested in distributing my brand internationally.
On Thursday the 27th of October I arrived at the Fair, which was being held at Tempelhof Airport, “the airport of Berlin Tempelhof has become a symbol of freedom more than anything else. The history of West Berlin wouldn’t be the same without the airlift, which brought supplies to the city from 1948 to 1949.”
After getting in contact with the organizers and relaying my idea they were very excited by the prospect and provided me with a small area and a blank wall to conduct my event. My idea consisted of two local Urban artists ‘customizing’ my chairs and painting the wall during the course of the fair, therefore bringing an interactive and refreshing element to an otherwise mostly ‘static’ showroom.
On Friday 28th of October I arrived at Tempelhof airport with local artists Bert van Wijk and Michel “Cren” Pietsch and two “La Nuit” chairs designed by Serra&DeLaRocha.
The organizers gave us a space and a wall in Hangar 7, next to the Restaurant of the Fair therefore guaranteeing a great deal of foot traffic throughout the course of the next two days. Due to the fact that we had no brand material, on this first day the two artists concentrated on painting a mural with the name of the brand and certain design elements that were then going to carry on to the two chairs. This was important since it established my company’s identity, reinterpreted by local artists, and created a reference for people passing by.
With the wall finished and brand name reference established, on Saturday 29th of October the artists painted on the two “La Nuit” chairs, giving them their own interpretation and character. Once finalized we did a final presentation of our ‘stand’ with the two ‘customized’ chairs and the wall with our brand name in the background.
RESULT
The response to this event exceeded all expectations I could have had. Throughout the two days there was a constant crowd surrounding our ‘area’ and both visitors and other exhibitors reacted very positively to the idea, in part because of the stark contrast it provided with the other generally ‘conventional’ stands at the fair. Maybe the most gratifying aspect was the number of children and the enthusiasm with which they interacted with the artists during their creative process. By allowing our brand name and product to become a blank canvas for the artists to build upon we did something more than just exhibit merchandise, we contributed to enriching each other cultures. Through this event Concepta Barcelona served as a vehicle to bring contemporary elements of Berlin’s urban art culture to the Qubique Design fair, whilst simultaneously showcasing our product.”
