Q&A with UKURANT: Practitioners across the country are immersing themselves in amazing things that deserve to be showcased

What is the line-up for the Biennale 2025?

The applicant pool spans several generations of practitioners, giving the exhibition a dynamic, with both experienced masters and younger talents contributing their perspectives and experiments. The diversity of the applicant field is not only present in terms of experience, but also in terms of craftsmanship, materials and traditions.

We see a tendency for old crafts to be challenged and used in new ways in new contexts. At the same time, modern technologies open up entirely new perspectives on traditional techniques, creating a fascinating dialogue between the old and the new.

Are there any recurring trends among the exhibitors?

As there is no theme for the Biennale 2025, it can be difficult to answer this question as the selected works cover a wide thematic range. However, they do share several common features: a strong focus on materials and sensuous surfaces, a grounding in craftsmanship, and a clear immersion in the process.

These tendencies reflect our starting point for the curation, namely: good craftsmanship, originality, topicality and high aesthetic quality in terms of materiality, surface, form and sensuality.

The Biennale is important for Danish craft artists and design. Perhaps it’s even more important that it doesn’t have a theme, as practitioners all over the country are immersing themselves in incredible things that deserve to be showcased.

How does Biennale 2025 make its mark?

Biennale 2025 stands out by offering a unique insight into what’s on the minds of Danish craft artists and designers right now. As there is no overall theme for the exhibition, the artists have not been limited by a specific topic, but have had the freedom to create works that stem directly from their own areas of interest. For some, this means that we are presented with works with themes and techniques that have been perfected over decades, while other works represent the first experiments in a new direction.

What unites all the works is that they are not just an extension of the practitioners’ practice – they are their practice. Each piece is an expression of how they work, think and engage with tradition and craft. Therefore, the exhibition will offer a nuanced picture of what preoccupies Danish craft artists and designers across generations, showcasing both established and emerging talents.

Biennale 2025 will thus be a mirror of the diversity and depth that characterises the Danish design and crafts scene today.

The Biennale 2025 will be shown at Glas – The Museum of Glass Art. How does the Biennale relate to the museum?

In terms of curation and theme, the Biennale does not relate directly to Glas. We have chosen to let the curation unfold freely, without being bound by the museum’s normal vision of exploring the potential of glass as an artistic material, and let the Biennale explore the potential of an unfolded material palette in the premises at Glas.

In the exhibition design, we will work with references to Glass and the history behind the museum. We feel a connection to glass and its history that is rooted in the Studio Glass movement of the 1970s, which created opportunities for glass practitioners to explore glass in new ways – from an exclusively industrial material to a more freely accessible material for artistic expression. Across countries, people came together and shared knowledge about the craft. This community-orientated and knowledge-sharing mindset is something we at Ukurant both mirror and strive for.