In partnership with the organizers of the Skopje Design Week, the British Council invited a group of young British designers to Macedonia last week. Jade Folawiyo and Neal Fox, Chris Bianchi, Stephanie von Reiswitz and Alex Wright from the illustration collective Le Gun, all took part in a number of workshops and presentations and met with local designers and students.

Held at the historic Kurshumli An, an Ottoman trading inn at the Old Bazaar, Skopje Design Week 2012 featured an exhibition of Jade's work, including her Uno lights created as part of her Designers in Residence project at the Design Museum, London last year. Jade ran a workshop that explored the methods of tarnishing and rusting of metals used to create the lights. She also visited Skopje University and met with students from the Industrial Design Department at the Mechanical Faculty, and interacted with students from other local art and design faculties.

The four designers from Le Gun invited the people of Skopje to bring them stories, objects, artefacts and ideas to contribute to a large scale piece of work that responded to the history of the Kurshumli An and the city beyond its walls. The resulting artwork uses references from both historic and contemporary Macedonia and will be displayed in the windows of the British Council offices at Goce Delcev Blvd in Skopje later this month.

The participation at Skopje Design Week is part of the British Council’s support to the development of the creative industries in Macedonia and to increase opportunities for exchange of ideas and experiences among designers from Great Britain and Macedonia.

Skopje Design Week 2012