This year’s Biennale for Craft & Design welcomes visitors to Glas – the Museum of Glass in Ebeltoft. Twenty-six works curated by Ukurant are on display in the beautiful surroundings of the harbour front. The exhibition is spread across both the original part of the museum and the modern open extension.

Here, Danish craftsmanship is celebrated with a focus on unique works, sustainability, concepts and ideas in combination with quality craftsmanship and hand-made design, which stands in sharp contrast to the mass production and overconsumption that otherwise characterise the commercial side of the profession. The exhibition seeks out tradition, while aiming for a future relevance in both materiality and essence.

A sensory harmony

This year’s exhibition is curated by Ukurant, a young, award-winning curatorial collective that manages to engage with traditions and history while also focusing sharply on current trends in expression, vision, materiality and design. Through an anonymous open call process, Ukurant has selected works ranging from the experimental to the poetic, from the technologically curious to those deeply rooted in old techniques.

There is no overarching thematic link in this year’s edition of the Biennial, but the works are linked by individual poetic stagings in the form of graphic textiles that create spaces within the rooms and allow the works to stand strong in their own right with their own individual focus.

The exhibition design manages to create a sensory whole – both through the spatial experience and the interplay of the works, where materials, expressions, forms and colours speak with and against each other. It is inspiring to see how the curators explore an interest in revisiting and rethinking old methods, as well as exploring the limits of the material in terms of both surface and tactility.

From glass to textiles, from furniture art to installations

The biennial showcases an impressive range of both disciplines and materials. The 26 artisans and designers present works that span glass, ceramics, textiles, paper, furniture and installations.
Whether the works revolve around tradition or innovation, it is clear that they have been created with a keen awareness of both process and materiality. At the same time, each individual work stands out as a small, independent work of art – a distillation of idea, craftsmanship and personal narrative. Each one contains a story that is not only a layer in its creation, but is also intuitively felt in its physical presence.

The shapes, surfaces and colours serve as quiet but insistent markers of the artist’s unique vision, unique hand and unique imprint on the work. In the exhibition, these works become not merely objects, but active participants in the space. They invite the viewer to linger and register nuances.

Small shifts, tactile materials and artistic decisions create an overall presence that makes the works fill the space. Many of them demand attention even before their story is conveyed in words. Their expression speaks first calmly, rawly, poetically, vibrantly or subtly, and then the narrative emerges with nuance and reflection on what one senses physically.

The Biennale for Craft & Design 2025 is a strong, cohesive and ambitious exhibition that, with a steady hand and great sensitivity, captures where Danish crafts and design stand right now. It manages to both honour traditions and open the door to the future. That it is being shown at Glas for the first time feels not only appropriate, but completely natural – like a meeting between two institutions that share a deep respect for materiality, craftsmanship and the field of design.

The exhibition comes highly recommended. Both for professionals and for the general public who want to experience the finest expressions of craftsmanship at a time when quality and consideration are important.

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