Camper and the Vitra Design Museum celebrate thirty years of Hella Jongerius "Whispering Things" features the sneakers designed by the artist for the Mallorcan brand
On March 14, Whispering Things opens, the first major retrospective dedicated to Dutch designer Hella Jongerius. Among the protagonists of the exhibition is also Camper, sponsor of the Vitra Design Museum in Basel. The Majorcan brand is an integral part of the creative history of Vitra and Jongerius: within the exhibition, a corner is dedicated to the projects the Dutch artist created for Camper Together, the collaborative platform launched in 2006 that invites designers, architects, and artists to freely reinterpret the brand’s DNA. Other collaborations are displayed in the museum’s atrium, from designs by Issey Miyake to Martí Guixé, Jaime Hayón, Maria Blaisse, Bernhard Willhelm, and Jasper Morrison. Experimentation, creative freedom, and the openness of the creative process are at the core of this project, an idea that, in Jongerius’ colorful and dynamic world, takes shape through unique materials and silhouettes.
The retrospective dedicated to Jongerius was curated by design historian Glenn Adamson and traces the artist’s career from her collaboration with Droog Design in the 1990s to her most recent projects. The exhibition recounts Jongerius’ artistic evolution, whose focus has shifted over the years from industrial design to increasingly refined material experimentation. Hands, both the tool and the subject of Jongerius’ practice, are the fil rouge connecting every room, confirming the attention the artist has always given not only to craftsmanship, but also to an intuitive, authentic, and therefore unrepeatable approach to product development.
On the occasion of the opening of Whispering Things, we had the opportunity to exchange a few words with Hella Jongerius, who described entrusting her archive to the Vitra Museum as «a relief.» Every corner of the exhibition rooms is filled with objects, textiles, furniture, and sculptures, although what is on display represents only half of Jongerius’ entire artistic legacy, as the artist told us. Suspended from the ceiling, projected onto walls, laid across surfaces, and installed inside mechanical boxes, in Whispering Things the works come to life thanks to the collective work of a team of installers, technicians, and creatives whom Jongerius herself thanked several times during the opening.
One of the works on display, Dirty Hands, represents precisely the deep sense of recognition Jongerius feels toward her colleagues. To mark the thirtieth anniversary of her career, the artist invited all her collaborators, past and present, to create a replica of their own hands using clay. «Your smart hands have brought so many ideas to life and made countless projects possible,» the artist commented.
This retrospective demonstrates how today’s creative industry no longer responds to the star system of the past, which once saw the artist as a celebrity and sole protagonist. «Working in alternative communities is the only way forward. Of course, you will always need somebody who has the vision, not as a director, but as someone who shows you the path for the community. But there should be no hierarchy: you’re all in one, you eat, sleep, live and work together. I believe in this in-between space, not in existing systems.»
Finally, considering the title of the exhibition, Whispering Things, it felt natural to ask the artist what she would whisper to herself if she could meet her younger self at the beginning of her career. Without hesitation, Jongerius answered «Listen to your own whispering voice.»
