The MADE IN platform promotes cooperation and the exchange of knowledge between traditional craftsmen and contemporary designers by connecting design, research and heritage. It brings together artisans, designers, researchers, curators and theorists to ask current issues related to heritage and production.

The traveling exhibition MADE IN: Crafts and Design Narratives opened for the first time on 17 February 2020 at the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb. The exhibition was hosted at the Museum of Architecture and Design between 16 May and 20 September 2020. This time, the last exhibition is organized by the Kunstgewerbemuseum at the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden together with the Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau.

Where is something produced? By whom? What is it made of? In a time of technological overturn and constant shortage of resources, we feel a desire to learn more about the origins of our goods. MADE IN, a platform for research, design and cultural heritage, brings together craft companies and creative professionals to address these issues.

At the heart of the exhibition is an archive that presents and displays the work of around forty craft companies from different regions of Europe in the form of objects, photo documentation and stories, including carpentry and ceramics workshops, as well as dairy and cork manufacturers. The range of companies shows similarities: how deeply rooted are the practices and knowledge in individual regions, the emotional connection with techniques and resources – as well as the uncertain future of traditions.

Eight companies, together with creatives from all over Europe, worked intensively on the central issues and challenges of each regional production; how can we creatively invent something new with local resources and old handicraft traditions?

If you are wandering around Dresden, you are invited to visit the exhibition; otherwise, you can see some photos here to read more about the project.